Love me back to life
by Red Shoe Kitty
Summary: AU -Someone is trafficking sex slaves in Cardiff. Jack needs help to hunt them down. Tosh has a bookshop owning friend who may be able to help but things get a little complicated.
1. Chapter 1

N'wr was running. He didn't know or care to where. He had been running since he had burst out of the dirty alleyway into the busy streets of the city. Ironically he knew he was running, not to his freedom but to his death, and he didn't care; _better dead and at peace than alive and in hell_ he told himself. He hated this planet, it was cold and wet and dark and cruel. In the distance he could see lights and open space and he desperately tried to pick up his pace, his sensitive hearing told him that his captors were not far behind and were gaining on him. He would not let them take him again, he would not. He pressed a hand to his side, the wound they had inflicted during his escape was large and he was losing essential life fluid at a frightening rate. Without slowing his pace he managed to gasp a short prayer to the Keeper of Worlds, begging for clemency – without someone to sing the Passing Dirge of his people he would be consigned to the outer darkness, forever barred from Elysium and the comforting presence of his ancestors. Pushing through the indigenous inhabitants he struggled towards the park land, only to run into the broad chest of a tall man who grasped his upper arms in large warm hands. Instinctively N'wr struggled to get free only for the man to pull him closer into a comforting embrace.

'Whoa, easy, easy there, champ. I got you, you are safe now.'

Shocked, N'wr realised the man was speaking to him in Galactic Common, his exhausted legs gave way and he sank to the ground with a sob that was part terror and part relief. The big man went down with him, never once relinquishing his reassuring grasp and he ran a hand over N'wr's side, hissing in sympathy when his exploring fingers encountered his wound.

'Owen, I got a casualty, I need you here fast.' Once that order had been given, the man lapsed back into Galactic Common, 'Can you tell me your name?'

Communication was painfully difficult for N'wr but he managed to slur, 'N'wr of the Hive Hecartay.'

'Who did this to you?'

N'wr shook his head, not only did he not know, the simple act of sharing his name had taken caused agony he was no longer able to bear

His rescuer seemed to understand; gently the man turned N'wr so that he could look into his face and, using his smallest finger, he pressed carefully on N'wr's injured mouth causing him to open it so that he could look inside. The expression of fury and distress that crossed the man's face reassured N'wr that his death would not be forgotten or unavenged. The man pulled him closer, sharing the warmth of his big body with the shivering alien

'I'm Captain Jack Harkness,' he told N'wr. 'You are a Grammarian, am I right?'

Tiredly N'wr nodded, he was finally getting warm but the loss of life fluid coupled with his terrified escape attempt had taken him to the end of his reserves of strength and he knew he was dying. He grasped Jack's hand and mouthed, 'please, please.' Instinctively he felt that this wonderful man would know what he was asking of him; to sit with him whilst he died, if he was going to be alone for eternity he wanted to prolong contact with another life form for as long as possible. He felt his eyes closing and knew this was the end. He was not afraid to die although the thought of never seeing his parents or hive mates in Elysium gave him a sharp spasm of pain. Then to N'wr's astonishment he felt himself lowered to the ground, this man...Jack... settled beside him, one hand on his forehead, one resting on his heart and a low, sweet baritone began to sing;

_Beyarath hasoon_

_Beyarath hasson_

_N'wr a Hecartay – massod a Grameria_

_Attra sa Ka_

_Attra sa pradoute_

_Evig mat'rat_

_Beyarath hasoon_

_Beyarath hasson_

It was the Passing Dirge; N'wr could no longer feel Captain Harkness' hands on his body, instead he was wrapped in the arms of his parents, his body lightened, his pain dissolved and his soul was free.

* * *

><p>Owen sprinted into the park, scanning the environment anxiously for Jack; he almost missed him as Jack was seated on the ground cradling a small body. Owen slowed and approached Jack at a slow and cautious pace.<p>

'Jack?'

Jack looked up and Owen was shocked to see that the Captain was silently weeping. 'You're too late' he told Owen in a low choked voice, 'he's dead.'

Owen knelt down and gently rolled N'wr's body out of Jack's arms in order to get a closer look. He peeled back the tattered shirt and uncovered the wound as tenderly as if N'wr was still able to feel pain, 'Jeezus, who the fuck did this?'

Jack could not tear his eyes from the beaten and emaciated body that lay between the two men, 'I don't know, he was too far gone to tell me, but I sure as hell am gonna find out.'

Carefully, Owen wrapped the small body, 'We'll get him back to the Hub and I'll autopsy him.'

Jack shot out an hand and grasped Owen's wrist so hard Owen was sure he could hear the small bones in his wrist creak, 'No' said Jack harshly, 'we don't need an autopsy. This kid had been starved, beaten and sexually abused. We won't do anything else to him.'

Owen frowned, 'sexually abused? How do you figure that?' With a heavy sigh, Jack took a small penlight from his coat pocket and, easing N'wr's mouth open shone the light inside. Owen leant forward then recoiled from the sight of the blisters and ulcers that thickly lined the alien's buccal cavity and throat, 'fuck!'

Jack nodded, 'fuck is right. Human semen is caustic to the mucus membranes of any number of species, including Grammarians which is what N'wr was.'

Owen swallowed hard and screwed his eyes closed in empathy, 'so some bastard has come in this kid's mouth not realising...'

'Ha' Jack interrupted with a bitter laugh, 'many, many bastards have fucked this poor kid's mouth and they all realised what they were doing no doubt.'

'How do you know?' queried Owen.

Jack gave a shudder, 'I know, Owen. Let's just leave it at that.' The last thing he was going to do was share his experience of captivity at the hands of the Bo/ac Priesthood; these human descendants had developed an entire religion based upon the concept of excessive sexual practice using beings captured specifically for the purpose. A splinter group for the priesthood had once swept through a space port where Jack had been on leave from the Time Agency indiscriminately gathering up everybody they came across and he had spent agonising seven months as one the brotherhood's concubines before he made his escape. It still pained him that he had only been able to take 60% of the captives with him. The experience meant that Jack recognised depravity and abuse when he saw it. With an effort Jack composed himself, 'abuse on this scale is rarely confined to just one individual, I think we have an alien sex trafficking ring operating in the city.'

For once, Owen showed a degree of sensitivity, merely nodding and standing up. He watched as Jack carefully picked up the small emaciated body and together the two men walked across the grass to where Owen had abandoned the SUV.

* * *

><p>Jack was uncomfortably aware that Owen was watching him closely as he gently placed N'wr's body into the back of the SUV but before he could challenge the medic on his scrutiny his comms unit beeped. Jack tapped his ear piece, 'what?'<p>

'Jack?' it was Tosh. 'I've managed to back track your escapee's route via the CCTV system. I think I have identified where he might have been held. Gwen is on her way there now to scope it out.'

'Ok, thanks Tosh,' said Jack calmly, 'send to coordinates to my PDA.' once he was sure that Tosh could no longer hear him, he slammed the tailgate of the SUV, 'Shit!' he sprinted to the front of the car, 'C'mon Owen – move it.' He tapped his comms unit to contact Gwen.

'Cooper'

'Gwen'

'Jack! Tosh gave you my location?'

'Yeah, Gwen, on no account engage. Do you understand? Observe and report only. Am I making myself clear?

A heavy sigh echoed across the comms system, 'yes Jack'

Jack rolled his eyes, 'stay put, Gwen. We're...' he glanced at Owen who held up seven fingers, Jack nodded, '...seven minutes away from you. Just keep watch, OK?'

With a huff of annoyance Gwen closed the comms channel and glanced back towards the empty store front. She could see the shadow of two men on the blanked out windows, they seemed to be arguing quite vehemently. Gwen considered for a moment, she was sure that she could easily take down two bad guys without waiting for back up. Easing her SIG-Sauer P226 from the waistband of her jeans she strode confidently across the street.

Jack threw the SUV round the corner, tires smoking as the wheels locked. Owen let out a yelp of alarm, 'there she is! What does she think she is doing?'

'Disobeying my orders, as usual' said Jack through gritted teeth as he opened the door and hurled himself into the street; Gwen was carefully sidling up to the door of the shop. As she reached out to turn the door handle Jack rushed up behind and threw her into the street towards the SUV as the booby trapped entrance exploded into an enormous sheet of flame.

'Christ!' Owen pulled his phone out and dialled the emergency services, requesting the fire brigade mentioning the special Torchwood code that accelerated response but also kept the incident dark as possible. Once that was done he sprinted across to where Gwen was staggering to her feet. Furious, he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her, hard. 'What the fuck, Cooper? He told you to stay put!'

'I thought I could handle it – it was just two guys!'

Owen had a lot more to say to her but his attention was attracted by a tall body lying at the edge of the burning building, moving feebly, one badly burned skeletal hand clutching desperately at the air. Keeping tight hold of the protesting Gwen, Owen strode over to his Captain. Owen had worked in Emergency Units so he had seen burn victims before but this...Jack had taken the full force of the explosion in the face. His handsome features were destroyed and he was clearly blind and suffering.

Serendipitously his groping hand brushed Owen's sleeve and grasped it urgently. Owen could hear Gwen retching at his side, Jack was making an effort to speak and Owen bent closer to try to hear his words.

'Kill...me'

Nearby, Owen could see Gwen's discarded SIG. He reached across, scooped it up and pressed into Gwen's nerveless hand. She started at the weapon as if she had never seen it before, 'wha...'

'You did this to him, Cooper.' Owen's voice was cold and hard, 'you did. You started this, you finish it.'

Gwen threw the gun down, 'No! I can't. I won't'

Owen pushed her away from him in disgust, and she landed heavily on her arse in the roadway 'so you are a coward as well as a self-cantered, arrogant bitch' he snarled, 'I knew it.'

As the tearful Gwen scrambled to her feet and ran back towards the SUV, a gunshot echoed around the deserted street.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack was prowling his office. It had been five weeks since the young Grammarian had died in his arms and they were no closer to finding the people who had snatched him from his home, held him and treated him so appallingly. Owen was scrutinising all EMT activity across the city and making a real nuisance of himself at all the local hospitals. Tosh was wearing herself to a shadow monitoring CCTV, all other emergency bands and local news reports. It didn't help that they were a team member down because once Jack had revived from Owen's bullet he had suspended Gwen without pay. She was due in for disciplinary interview before coming back to work the following week. The shrieking of the cog wheel door pulled Jack from his thoughts alerting him to the fact that Gwen was on time, for once. With a heavy sigh Jack pulled open his office door and watched impassively as Gwen, dressed in her tightest jeans and lowest cut top, swaggered across the floor of the Hub waving carelessly at Owen and Tosh who stood together, silently observing her progress.

'She's going to try to flirt her way out of trouble' whispered Tosh

'She's got no chance' snarked Owen, 'you and I both saw what was in the building and we both saw how Jack reacted. If she has any sense she'll take what's coming to her with suitable chagrin.'

'Yeah,' agreed Tosh, softly, 'but I don't think she has any sense.'

Gwen sashayed towards Jack's office completely confident that she would get an abject apology and back pay for the time she had been unfairly suspended. She knew she had Jack completely wrapped around her little finger. She raised her eyes to the platform outside of his office, he was watching her walk across the Hub; with a secret little smile Gwen put and extra bounce into her walk to make her tits jiggle – she knew Jack found her irresistible, this was going to be a piece of cake.

* * *

><p>Not ten minutes later she was reconsidering her earlier optimism, she had never seen Jack acting so angry. He was striding about the office which was feeling claustrophobic with his fury.<p>

'Do you know how many bodies we found in that building?' Jack asked rhetorically. Gwen opened her mouth to respond but Jack ignored her and carried on. 'Fifteen, Fifteen bodies chained in small cages, fifteen beings who died when the incendiary booby trap that you triggered razed the building to the ground. Fifteen off worlders, fifteen prisoners who had been abused and beaten and are now dead BECAUSE OF YOU!'

Gwen recoiled from Jack's anger, for the first time ever she was actually afraid of him. 'I didn't know there was anyone else in there but the two guys I saw through the window. I knew I could take them down, Jack. It was a situation I was trained for'

'You have worked for Torchwood for thirteen months, you don't know anything' snapped Jack

'That's bollocks,' replied Gwen heatedly, 'I assessed the situation and...'

Jack grasped his hair in frustration as he interrupted, 'and you murdered fifteen innocents.'

'How was I to know?' yelled Gwen, tearfully

'You weren't supposed to know, you were supposed to follow my fucking orders!' Jack was right in her face now, his spittle spattering her face as he screamed at her

For the first time, it occurred to Gwen that Jack really angry with her; he wasn't putting it on to hide his feelings for her from the others, he really was genuinely furious. Time for some damage limitation, forcing more tears into her eyes she gazed up a Jack with a doe like expression on her face. 'You think I'm not sorry?' she whispered brokenly, 'you think I don't think about those fifteen prisoners? You think I don't have nightmares?' She got to her feet and forced herself into Jack's unwilling arms, hiding her face against his chest so that he could not see the sardonic smile on her face as she played on his emotions, 'I'm sorry Jack, you must believe me.' She gave herself a mental high five, this was one of her better performances even if she did say so herself.

Jack pushed her away, holding her at arm's length and staring at her face as if he had never seen her before, 'see the problem we have here, Cooper, is that I don't believe you, I don't trust you to do as you are told and if I can't trust you to follow my orders how can I trust you to have my back?'

Gwen grimaced, 'Jack, I've learnt my lesson, I swear'

Jack shook his head, 'if it meant the death of fifteen people then I'm not sure it was worth the price.'

Gwen snorted, was Jack deliberately missing the point? 'They weren't people, Jack they were just aliens'

Jack thrust her from him with such violence she would have fallen had the desk not stopped her. 'Just aliens?' he repeated in an unbelieving tone, 'what? Like I am "just" an alien? Like The Doctor is? You do know what we do here at Torchwood, yes?'

'Of course!' Gwen was beginning to lose her temper; this was not going how she had planned at all. By now she should be in Jack's bed whilst her murmured how much he had missed her against her naked skin. 'We protect this planet from the scum of the universe!'

'We protect the weak and the vulnerable from the scum of the universe' corrected Jack, 'even if the weak and the vulnerable are from other worlds. If you can't see this, then I can't risk having you working for me in the field.'

Gwen snorted, 'you won't fire me, Jack. Look around you the four of us can barely manage the workload – you can't afford to be a body down.'

Jack gave a pleased smile, the smile of a hunter who has manoeuvred his prey into a long prepared trap, 'I said I can't risk having you work for me in the field,' he said, 'when you return to work next week you will be confined to the Hub. You will run support on our field missions, look after our guests and coordinate and file our reports.'

Be the bloody secretary?' Gwen was outraged, how many times had Jack called her the heart of Torchwood? 'No! I won't do it!'

'Good,' Jack unholstered his Webley and aimed it between Gwen's eyes, 'I was really, really hoping you would say that.'

The dangerous moment was broken as the door to Jack's office burst open and Tosh and Owen hurtled into the room both speaking at the same time.

'A naked blue skinned humanoid, malnourished and beaten, has just been picked up from an alleyway near the High Street Arcade. I've overridden the ambulance instructions and they will be bringing him here. ETA five minutes'

'I've picked up chatter on a couple of S and M websites about a new no holds barred, anything permissible sex service, very exclusive, very secret. I'm following a few leads but should have an address for you by the end of the day.'

Slowly Jack holstered his gun and turned to his two employees, 'Owen, great work. Tosh, you frequent sex sites?'

Tosh blushed, 'only in the line duty, Jack'

Owen's phone beeped and he pulled it from his pocket and glanced at it, 'it's the paramedics, they're on the plas.' he turned to Gwen, 'I'm gonna need a hand, come on Cooper, grab a trolley and meet me at the invisible lift.'

Turning swiftly he ran from Jack's office. Gwen turned to Jack in appeal, 'Jack?' but Jack had already turned from her to pull up the plas CCTV. 'You heard him, Gwen. Get on with it.'

Angrily, Gwen pushed past Toshiko and followed Owen. Tosh rubbed her arm where Gwen had pushed her into the door frame. 'Are you sure about this Jack?' she asked ruefully.

Jack shrugged, 'she is right about one thing, we can't afford to be a person down. I'll keep her out of the field as much as possible and as soon as we have shut this sex ring down I'll retcon her back to puberty and recruit a replacement, may be two'

Tosh smiled, 'whatever you say, Jack' she said softly, 'I trust your judgement and now, I'd better get back to my sex chat rooms.'

With a fond hand on her back Jack accompanied her down to the main floor of the hub just as Owen and Gwen descended from the plas. Jack's heart sank as he saw the body on the trolley was completed covered. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Owen who shook his head sadly. 'He was too badly injured, nothing I could have done.' Carefully Jack pulled the sheet back, flinching as the battered features of the alien were revealed.

'He's a long way from home' said Jack, 'he's a Tolaxsian.' He lifted the corpse's long fingered hand, stroking it gently, 'they are amazing musicians, a most gentle and creative race. They don't have inter-stellar travel, there is no reason for him to be here, someone must have snatched him.'

Tosh reached around Jack and closed the sightless eyes of the Tolaxsian, 'he looks so young,' she murmured.

'Yeah' Jack cleared his throat uncomfortably, 'he looks like an adolescent, no more that about 80 or 90.'

Gwen snorted sarcastically, 'an adolescent?' she enquired cynically

'Tolaxsian's live for around 400 years,' said Jack, stroking the alien's long hair carefully, 'if they are not starved and abused like this poor boy.'

'I take it...no autopsy,' said Owen.

Jack shook his head and returned to his office. Owen and Tosh stared at each other. 'I've never seen him like this,' observed Tosh, 'something about this case is really getting to him.'

Owen frowned, 'yeah, he got all bent out of shape when we picked up the first victim, N'wr. Something he said made me think that he was intimately acquainted with sexual slavery.' He looked at Tosh who was trying to blink back her tears. 'We need to get this cleared up before we lose him completely.'

That got through to Gwen, 'You think he would leave us?' that didn't suit her plans at all – all her goals revolved around having Jack in her bed, the thought that he might leave Torchwood, leave her had never occurred to her before. _Maybe I should start making him realise how invaluable I am to him and how much he needs to have me around,_ she thought to herself. She straightened up, 'I'll transfer this guy down to the vaults, 'she offered, 'then I'll come back and help you with you sex room chatter, if you like Tosh'

'Er...thanks,' replied a clearly taken aback Toshiko. Her eyes met those of an equally perplexed Owen who gave the slightest of shrugs indicating that, he too, had no idea what Cooper was up to now but that both he and Tosh should not trust her motives in any way.

* * *

><p>Seven hours later Tosh was ready to scream. Her job had been made several times more difficult thanks to Gwen's "help"; the Welshwoman's computer expertise was pretty much confined to buying shoes over the internet and updating her Face Book status making her pretty much useless to Tosh. After, two hours of being asked to provide coffee every twenty minutes or so (it was the only thing Tosh could think of to get a brief respite from the never ending chatter about Jack) Gwen eventually took umbrage and went home in a huff. Tosh sat back in her chair, removed her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. Owen came up behind her and, to her astonishment, began to massage the tight muscles of her shoulders and neck. 'You are a saint, Toshiko Sato,' he told her.<p>

'I don't know about that' smiled Tosh, leaning back into his touch, 'I was seriously considering killing her with my stapler at one point.'

'Well, if anyone could, it would be you' Jack's voice came from the walkway way outside of his office. He smiled affectionately at Tosh and Owen, 'have you got anything for me Tosh?'

'Yeah I think I have.'

'Brilliant' the brilliance of Jack's smile was a million miles away from the crushed and distressed expression he had appeared when he gazed at the dead Tolaxsian earlier, 'boardroom in five minutes, please.'


	3. Chapter 3

Jack watched indulgently as Tosh set up her lap top and linked it to the large plasma screen that graced the far wall of the boardroom. She cleared her throat, took a sip of water and began.

'There are a couple of hard core sex sites that operate out of Cardiff, 'she began, 'very difficult to access, part of the Darknet, so..'

Owen interrupted, 'the Darknet?'

'Yeah. A Darknet is a private network in cyber space where connections are made only between trusted peers — sometimes called "friends"— using non-standard protocols and ports. Darknets are distinct from other distributed peer-to-peer networks as sharing is anonymous so IP addresses are not publicly shared, and therefore users can communicate with little fear of external interference from organisations like the police or the security services.'

'And are you a part of this...Darknet,' asked Jack curiously

'I find it useful to be so, yes' replied tosh levelly.

'Psychos and sickos' snorted Owen dismissively

'Psychos and sickos, who consistently operate outside the norms of society, 'said Tosh reprovingly, 'people who see and hear the kinds of things that 99% of the people up there,' she gestured upwards towards the plas, 'never see. These people are familiar with the outré and this situation is definitely outré.'

'Do you contribute?' Owen couldn't seem to leave it alone.

Toshiko laughed,' this isn't mumsnet,' she said, 'you don't lurk on these sites, most are invitation only, so yeah, I contribute'

Owen opened his mouth once more but Jack intervened, 'enough, Owen. So Tosh, what have you heard?'

Tosh shot Jack a grateful look and continued, 'there is a lot of talk about a new "exotic" sex club that is operating out of Cardiff centre. It caters to all sexual tastes up to and including extreme breath play and snuff; there are no limits, and I mean none at all. It costs £20,000 to join, a further £10,000 for each visit and member must commit to a minimum of 12 visits per year.' Owen let out a low whistle and Tosh nodded in understanding, 'yeah someone is making a fortune' she said, 'and the extreme BDSM elements explain the states in which we found both N'wr and the Tolaxsian.'

Jack looked sick, it was no secret that he loved sex in all its forms but the notion of forced compliance was repugnant to him, sex should be about fun and laughter and caring, the best sex was about love too and to cheapen it in this way made his bowels clench. 'Where is it?' he ground out from between clenched teeth.

Tosh tapped her key board and bought up an aerial view of the plas, 'It's operating from the plas,' she said, 'the closest I can narrow it is to this block of shops here. I think they must be using some kind of cloaking device or perception filter,' she tapped some keys and an innocent line of shops, bars and cafes appeared on the screen. 'None of these look like they are the front for an alien sex club do they?'

Jack shook his head, 'these fucking bastards are operating right under our noses' he muttered, 'Tosh, have you got any computer wizardry up your sleeve?'

Tosh blushed, 'Well yes and no.' she said

'Tosh?'

Tosh's fingers roamed over her laptop keyboard once more. 'Darknet is beyond anonymous,' she said as she typed, 'the security protocols are second to none, beyond international security standards if you can believe it, however...' she finished typing with a flourish and the pictures of forty different men appeared on the screen, 'for someone who routinely hacks into The Pentagon, the NSA and homeland security organisation across Europe just to keep their hand in, they not that hard to hack.'

Owen was applauding quietly and Jack said, 'these men are the ones who are running this?'

'I don't know which if any of them, are actually behind the kidnappings or if they just frequent the club but these are the people who have received invitations to the establishment Once invited their joining instruction are sent to them off line so the chance of narrowing down the location via their computer activity is slim. I'm trying to trace their payments to a bank account, try to get a name or at least a business address but I'm being bounced around various financial sites at the moment, I keep on it'

'Hmm; so, we know roughly where the premises are and, thanks to our resident tech genius, we have the faces of the scum involved; all we need to do is position ourselves close to the building and watch.'

Owen gave a short laugh, 'and how are we going to do that, Jack? I can't see you on the plas selling ice-creams or hot dogs.'

Toshiko coughed modestly, 'as it happens, I also have a solution to that problem too.'

* * *

><p>People had told him that a modern unit on the newly regenerated plas was not the ideal place to open an antiquarian book shop. They had pointed out that all the rest of the businesses would be modern outlets selling over priced tourist tat interspersed with genuinely expensive art galleries and designer clothes shops; not the kind of commercial environment that would necessarily attract serious book collectors . However, as things turned out, he was making a nice living selling contemporary books about Welsh history and Celtic mythology whilst building up a solid reputation for selling his antiquarian books over the internet. He enjoyed the social interaction of working in the store, chatting to tourists all day meant that when he closed the shop and took the lift up to his flat, four floors above the store, he didn't feel too lonely.<p>

As the last customer left the shop, he locked the front door and flipped the sign to "closed". He made his way to the small cafe area, turning off the coffee machine and wiping down the countertop. Cleaning the coffee machine was his way of formally ending the day, separating work from personal time, and his hands moved without conscious thought, almost automatically. Just as he had finished his mobile phone rang, he glanced at the caller ID and a rare smile crossed his face.

'Tosh? How are you?'

'Good. And you, how are things at the shop?'

He laughed, 'same old, same old,' he said, 'actually things are going so well I'm thinking of taking on more staff, staying open longer and having evening events, book signings, poetry recitals stuff like that.'

'Really?' he could tell Tosh was smiling, he liked it when she smiled. Like himself, she was generally very serious, probably one of the reasons she was virtually the only friend he had made since he opened his business on the plas. He realised he had zoned out and missed most of what she had been saying. 'Sorry, Tosh, can you say that again?'

Tosh's sigh echoed down the line, 'You know I work in special ops' she repeated patiently, 'we need to keep an unobtrusive observation on the bank of shops opposite yours and I wondered if, as a personal favour to me you would consider...'

'Employing someone from your team in the shop?' he asked drily

Tosh laughed, 'it's because you are so intelligent that I love you so much.' she said, 'actually it would be two of us, me and my boss.' A deep voice could be heard in the background and Tosh continued, 'he says to tell you that we would pay a generous fee for the use of your premises. ' she lowered her voice, 'and I'm happy to actually help out as a staff member.'

'Is it likely to be dangerous?'

'No' Tosh was emphatic, 'but you would be helping us to do a good thing, a really good thing.'

'Ok, just one thing though...'

* * *

><p>Back in the Hub, Tosh ended her call and turned to Jack, 'He's on board but he wants to meet you.'<p>

Jack frowned, 'why?'

'I don't know. Maybe he wants to see if you look trustworthy before he is prepared to leave you alone in his shop.'

'Hey!' Jack was hurt, 'look at this face. It screams trustworthy.'

Yes, yes,' Tosh patted his arm reassuringly, 'very honourable and unbearably handsome, we all agree. C'mon, he is waiting at the shop.'

'Now?'

'Yes, now'

* * *

><p>As he moved to unlock the door of the shop, he could see them striding across the plas. Tiny, delicate Tosh was almost dwarfed by the tall man in the amazing World War II style greatcoat, matching his pace to her shorter stride. The setting sun behind the tall man made his features indistinct, but outlined him in a nimbus of flame making him look heroic and other worldly. He looked larger than life and the thought of having this person actually in his shop stopped the breath in his throat.<p>

Jack paused to let Toshiko precede him into the shop which had the name '"Celtic Mythos" written in ornate gold script across the large plate glass windows. He glanced back at the innocuous row of businesses facing the bookstore, there was nothing to indicate that any number of off-worlders were being tortured and abused behind one of the bland shop fronts. He made a silent promise to them and turned to follow Tosh into the book store.

Once inside, Jack got a vague sense of a wide space lined with book shelves, many comfortable looking sofas scattered around and an efficient looking lift up to a first floor balcony where the antiquarian books were on display, many in glass fronted cases. He always pictured antiquarian books shops as being dark and cramped but this had wide aisles between the cases and lots of open space. The overall impression was of a warm and welcoming place. However Jack's attention was soon focussed entirely on the young man who was manoeuvring himself around the low counter. He was, without doubt, the most gorgeous creature Jack had seen for a very long time. His long, dark, wavy hair was brushed back from a broad creamy forehead and reached his shoulders and his grey blue eyes regarded Jack with sombre evaluation, the quirk of the full red mouth suggesting that the young bookseller liked what he saw. With the skill borne of long practice, the young man propelled his wheel chair across the space between them, coming to a halt in front Jack. He gave a shy smile and stuck out his hand.

'You must be Captain Harkness; Tosh has told me so much about you.'

'Really?' Jack raised an eyebrow at Tosh who had the grace to redden and develop an interest in her shoes. Jack gave his best smile and took the proffered hand in a warm and firm grasp, 'please, call me Jack...and you are?'

The young man blushed delightfully causing Jack's cock to twitch appreciatively, 'I'm Ianto, Ianto Jones.'


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning, Ianto woke up with an unfamiliar feeling of excitement churning in his belly. Captain Jack Harkness was coming to work in his book shop for...well for as long as it took to break the case he was working on. Jack had explained that he was not able to give Ianto any detail about the case but had assured him that his cooperation was vital to a satisfactory conclusion. Given that Ianto had been rendered almost breathless by the beauty and intensity of the man before him, his cooperation was very much a done deal even before Jack began to speak.

In fact, Ianto could not remember any time that he had almost instantly been drawn to and comfortable with a new acquaintance. It had looked as if the Captain, or Jack as he had insisted Ianto call him, had felt the same. He had seated himself on one of the store sofas and Ianto had made coffee for everyone. It was only when he looked around to offer another cup that he and Jack realised that Tosh had left them and they had been talking for nearly seven hours. To Ianto it felt as if Jack was really seeing him, looking past the wheelchair and treating him as a person who deserved attention and respect but did not require pity – Ianto found that extremely refreshing. Then, as Jack had made to leave, he had placed a warm and friendly hand upon Ianto's shoulder and the frisson of sexual arousal that shook his body had amazed him. As he manoeuvred himself out of bed and into his wheelchair to head to the wet room for a shower, Ianto was aware that he was looking forward to working with Captain Harkness very much indeed.

* * *

><p>Jack and Toshiko were strolling arm in arm across the plas, taking pleasure in the unseasonably warm breeze blowing off the bay. Jack was holding a carrier bag, which contained various pastries from a very up market, expensive and popular bakery; he noticed Tosh noticing and gave a small laugh.<p>

'Just want to make a good impression on our new boss.' said Jack

'With pastries from Jacksons? They're on the other side of the city. You must have been up pretty early to get those,' observed Tosh wickedly.

Jack blushed, 'yeah...well...' he blustered

Tosh smiled and squeezed Jack's arm, 'you two really seemed to hit it off last night. You didn't even notice when I left, did you?'

For a long moment Jack said nothing but developed a real interest in the view over the bay, then he gave a grimace and said, wistfully, 'he's an interesting young man, easy to be with. I like talking to him. It would be nice to have him as a friend.'

As she looked up at him in surprise, it occurred to Tosh, for the first time, to wonder if Jack was lonely. To break the awkward silence, she dug the new piece of kit that Jack had given to her out of her bag and inspected it' it looked like an intricate bracelet made of a dull grey metal. 'So, how does this work?'

Jack took it from her. 'We know that their operation is being run from one of the units opposite Ianto's shop but we have no way of telling which one just by watching. We can't draw attention to ourselves, if they suspect they are under observation they will just up and move their operation somewhere else in the city and we will be back where we started from. I won't leave sentient creatures in that hellish situation any longer than I have to. So we have to be sneaky, the plan is that we will work in the book store as regular sales people and keep a low profile watch on the place but if they use any type of alien tech to access whichever building they are using, the bracelets will vibrate to alert us. At the same time the bracelets will try to identify and triangulate the signal to pin point location and hopefully quantify life signs. I've got Gwen monitoring the bracelet telemetry back at the Hub and the programme you set up will give us location, floor plans, CCTV, whatever we can find.'

'Gwen?' asked Tosh dubiously

'Yeah, I know' said Jack uncomfortably, 'but what choice do I have? I can't trust her in the field. I'll need Owen fresh to deal with any prisoners we rescue and he won't be if he has to spend all day staring at a computer screen and if we are to stay off their radar it needs two pairs of eyes on the target. The tracer program you wrote for this **is** fool proof right?'

'Jack, nothing is fool proof to a sufficiently talented fool.' Jack gave a snort of laughter. 'And why are we assuming alien tech?' said Tosh curiously

'There is no technology on this planet that can cloak an entire building or hide large volumes of traffic going in or out. This is either a cloaking device on a massive scale or a time slip device.' said Jack, he frowned, 'I'd be inclined to think they are using a time slip device. I've seen people cloaked as a sort or party trick but nothing on this scale, it would need an immense energy source too whereas a time slip...' he trailed off and stopped with a thoughtful look on his face.

'A time slip device?' prompted Tosh

'Hmm? Oh yeah.' Jack focused on her again, 'a time slip device creates a sort of bubble around the target, a building or encampment or whatever and moves everything inside the boundary forward in time by two seconds. From the outside of the perimeter everything looks normal. It's very clever and almost impossible to identify without specialist equipment. If that is what this is then these guys have access to some very serious shit. The problem with time slip tech is that the access signal fades really fast, so we need to triangulate almost as soon as we pick it up '

'Ok, that makes sense, I guess' acknowledged Tosh, 'but you and I are only here from 8 to 7, who watches after we leave?'

'Look around you Tosh,' said Jack gesturing at the early morning shoppers and tourists who were wandering around the quay. 'This is a commercial area; anyone attempting to enter one of these shops after dark is automatically suspicious. It's quite clever when you think about it, the place keeps the same hours as all the other businesses on the block, nothing to make them stand out.'

'So, we pick up the signal frequency and Gwen, Gwen of all people, gives us the intel we need, then what?' asked Tosh

'Then' said Jack with a smile, 'we destroy the bad guys and save the aliens'

'Just the two of us?' Tosh was sceptical

Jack stroked her cheek, 'have some faith, Toshiko.' His face brightened as he spotted Ianto at the window of the shop trying, unsuccessfully, to look as if he wasn't anxiously waiting for them to arrive.

* * *

><p>Jack entered Celtic Mythos with his usual flair, 'Morning boss,' he tossed the bag of breakfast goodies onto Ianto's lap, 'I bought breakfast.'<p>

'Good,' Ianto tossed the bag right back at Jack who caught it without a fumble, 'I made coffee – shall we adjourn to the lounge area?' Skilfully he turned his chair, tilted back and wheelied across the shop to the sofa where three mugs of steaming coffee were waiting. Jack watched the small display with a thoughtful expression then, not to be outdone, he backed up to the door, ran a few steps and slid the rest of the way acrossed the floor on his knees. Both men were laughing hard and clearly delighted with each other.

Tosh lingered in the doorway watching the antics of both of her friends with a soft smile on her face. Something good was starting here, she had rarely seen Jack so taken with someone on such a short acquaintance and she had never seen him trying to build a relationship which was not based upon flirting and sexual innuendo. Jack and Ianto were setting out the pastries and playfully arguing about who would get the cinnamon swirl, Jack was smiling at Ianto whose face was flushed and animated. She hadn't seen Ianto this happy, well, ever; he was always so sombre and serious. Apart from her, Tosh wasn't sure he had any other friends, and she only saw him occasionally. Sometimes, when he was unaware he was being observed Ianto looked to bleak and lonely. Maybe Jack would be good for him. Jack was saying something in a low tone and whatever it was put a wide smile on Ianto's face turning him from a merely attractive man into a stunningly gorgeous one. Tosh had a feeling that she was going to be surplus to requirements over the next few days, as far as those two were concerned but observing their fast developing friendship she decided that she didn't mind one bit.


	5. Chapter 5

With a dazzling smile, Jack opened the door of Celtic Mythos Books and ushered his latest satisfied customer out onto the quay then he sidled up to Tosh as she finished serving her customer, both of them giving their, by now habitual, glance out of the shop window at the buildings opposite; the board walk was thronged with tourists and shoppers but there did not seem to be anything suspicious going on.' can I have a private word with you?' he asked quietly.

Tosh looked round, it was still quite early, barely 10 a.m. and the store was not very busy. Ianto was in his office co-ordinating the list of books he was hoping to source at the big antiquarian booksellers convention he was attending the next day; of the other sales assistants, Adam was running a story telling circle for a class from the local school, Gemma was dusting shelves and organising new stock and Cathy the barista was serving a couple of customers.

'Yeah, OK' she said before turning and catching Gemma's eye and making a drinking motion before pointing to Jack too. Gemma nodded her understanding that the two Torchwood operatives were going to take a quick break.

Tosh settled herself on their usual sofa as Jack collected their coffees from Cathy. For a while there was silence as they manipulated sugar packets and wooden stirrers then Tosh started. 'What did you want, Jack?'

Jack was concentrating on stirring his coffee, 'I just wondered...er...what the deal is with Ianto'

Tosh stiffened, 'what do you mean?'

Jack waved a vague hand in the direction of where their erstwhile boss was working, 'erm...the wheelchair thing' he stumbled, 'how did...I mean..was he born like..or...'

Tosh blushed, 'Jack, I don't think it's my place to...'

Jack grabbed her hand, 'please Tosh, I'm not asking out of idle curiosity.'

'Then why are you asking?'

Jack looked uncomfortable, 'I really like him, you know? I mean really like him. We are becoming such close friends so quickly and the last thing I want is to accidentally hurt him by asking stupid questions.' he looked at Tosh pleadingly and gave a self deprecating laugh, 'not like me to be so sensitive, is it?

Tosh took hold of Jack's restless hands, 'Jack, are you sure you concern for Ianto is purely platonic?'

Jack shrugged, 'I dunno. I'd like more, obviously but he seems oblivious to the attraction between us. He lights up when he sees me but he never seems to want to move things to a different level but if being my friend is the most he can offer then I'll accept that.' He gave a weak smile, 'hell, I'm not even sure he swings that way. He's pretty hard to read, you know?'

Tosh frowned, 'If you are asking me if he's gay, then I can't help you. Ianto is a very private person. I've certainly never seen him with a boyfriend or a girlfriend for that matter; in fact I don't think he has many friends at all to be honest. I know he was interested someone at the time of the accident but I don't know if it was Lisa or Tristan so...'

'Accident?'

Tosh bit her lip, damn she really wanted this thing with Jack and Ianto to work but she was going to have to be careful not to be disloyal to Ianto. On the other hand, Jack seemed to really care about her friend. She gave a heavy sigh and made the decision to betray her friend, it was for his own good she told herself. 'Ianto was in a really bad accident, oh... about three years ago. He was in a car being driven by his...well I guess you'd call her a close friend, Lisa and a mutual friend of theirs Tristan was a passenger in the back. Lisa pulled out of a junction straight into the path of a petrol tanker. By some bizarre miracle Ianto was thrown clear, got away with barely a scratch but the Tanker ploughed the car with Lisa and Tristan still inside into the side of a building. By all eye witness accounts, Ianto was so brave; he was running back to the car to try to rescue his friends when the whole thing blew.'

'Oh goddesses' murmured Jack, his eyes closed in sympathetic pain, 'and Lisa? Tristan?'

Tosh shook her head sadly, 'Ianto got caught in the blast and was taken to the hospital unconscious; when he came round he couldn't walk.'

'So...what... spinal injury from the blast?' asked Jack

'Well, no...that's the weird thing' Tosh had completely overcome her earlier reticence but she was keeping her voice low. 'They can't find any physical cause for the paralysis, the doctors think...'

'TOSH!' the voice was like a whiplash of ice. Both Jack and Tosh gave a startled jump and turned identical guilty faces to Ianto who had come up silently behind them. Ianto looked furious, 'I'll thank you, Toshiko Sato, not to gossip about me, behind my back and in my own shop.' Tosh blushed and looked away but Ianto was not done, 'and you, Captain Harkness, I thought...I thought you were my friend.'

Jack looked stricken, 'I am your friend, Ianto' he said desperately

Ianto raise a sceptical eyebrow, 'really? Well in my experience friends don't talk about other friends behind their backs.'

Jack reached out an appealing hand but Ianto wheeled himself out of his reach, 'Yan!'

'Don't, Yan me' replied Ianto coldly, 'I liked you, I thought you liked me but obviously you just wanted to keep me sweet so that you could use my shop as you own personal look out. I wish you really were one of my employees so I could fire your sorry arse. You know what's really funny? I really, really liked you, more than I have ever liked anyone in my entire life. I would have happily let you use the shop without you pretending that there was a, a connection between us. You didn't have to use me like this to get your own way.'

'No, Ianto, no. That's not true.' Jack looked crushed

' No? Then what possible reason could you have for this? What on earth would a man like you see in someone like me?' Then Ianto's face cleared as the light dawned, 'Oh, you are one of those then are you?' he sneered, 'well, you aren't the first one I've come across'

Tosh rested a gentle hand on Ianto's leg, 'Ianto, wait, are you saying?

Ianto gave a bitter laugh, 'look at me Tosh, I'm handicapped. Do you know how many people, men and women, want to fuck the cripple?'

Jack buried his head in his hands and Tosh looked horrified, 'What? Ianto, no! Jack is not like that.'

'You know what?' snapped Ianto, 'I don't care what Jack is like. You can both stay until whatever it is you are doing is over, keep interaction with my staff to a minimum, stay well away from me and when this over I never want to see or hear either of you ever again. '

As Ianto wheeled himself away, Tosh gave Jack a sideways glance. He was pale and silent and he stared hopelessly at Ianto's retreating back before putting his head back in his hands in despair. As she was desperately racking her brains for something to say to him, the bracelet on her wrist cooled appreciably and began to vibrate against her skin. Jack instantaneously switched into professional mode.

'Tosh get to the window, see if you can spot any of our suspects,' he ordered as he fumbled in his pocket for his phone and his PDA. Tosh hurried over to the window and began to rearrange the display, her sharp gaze on the street outside. She thought that she saw the back of a man fading out of view from the corner of her eye but she had not been quick enough to be able to identify the man from the list she had drawn from the darknet chat room. Turning to Jack she gave a quick and disappointed shake of her head, noting that Jack had his PDA in his hand out obviously waiting for Gwen to send him the information from the trace monitor – he didn't look happy.

* * *

><p>Gwen was bored. Tosh had left very detailed instructions about how to run the monitoring program she had set up, which as far as Gwen could see could be condensed down to -<p>

1. The monitoring program will beep if a signal is detected

2. If the program beeps, type the word "locate" into dialogue box

3. Send all information to Jack's PDA

Three days now she had been staring at the damn screen and fuck all had happened. Every night Tosh and Jack came back to the Hub and it seemed to Gwen they were getting closer than ever before as they laughed and shared stories about the funny customers they had dealt with over the course of the day. This was not a development that Gwen was too thrilled about, in fact she was firmly of the opinion that she was the one who should be working in the cripple's book shop with Jack; Tosh would have been happier in the Hub and she would have been happier giving Jack a blow job in convenient cupboards throughout the day. Just the thought of having Jack's cock in her mouth was making her feel hot and tingly. She looked around the Hub; Jack had not called in, _probably busy flirting with Tosh_ thought Gwen, bitterly. Owen was asleep on the sofa having long given up any pretence of working so Gwen reckoned she was due some 'Gwen' time. She made her way up to Jack's office and from there she lowered herself through the trap door into Jack's sleeping quarters.

Resisting the temptation to poke around Gwen stretched out on the small bed, turning her head into the pillow she inhaled deeply; it was almost like having the man himself lying next to her. She unfastened her jeans and pushed them down over her hips. Sliding her hand inside her scanty knickers, she began rubbing her clitoris hard, closing her eyes and pretending that is was Jack's fingers working busily to give her pleasure. In very little time orgasm began to coil low in her belly and with a muffled cry of 'oh Jack, Jack' she came hard, soaking the bedding upon which she was writhing.

Upstairs at the deserted workstation, Tosh's tracer program was beeping an urgent alert as the time slip access signal was detected. Two seconds later, Gwen's phone began to ring.


	6. Chapter 6

Ianto took the lift up to the first floor gallery, he was shaking with rage and an over whelming sense of betrayal. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he scolded himself internally_, I let myself hope that this time I'd found someone, that after all this time it was gonna happen for me. I should have known that love at first sight was a pile of shit_. He glanced over the balcony rail, he could see Jack still sitting where he had left him, his head buried in his hands and Tosh's hand hovering above his back as if she wanted to comfort him but was unsure how to.

Suddenly Jack sat up and spoke urgently to Tosh who walked with misleading casualness to the store window as Jack pulled his PDA from his pocket and stared at it with a look of intense concentration on his handsome face. Ianto's scowl slipped as he considered, not for the first time, how very gorgeous his new friend was. _Hmm still thinking of him as my friend_ thought Ianto, _maybe I was too hard on him, I did hear him say to Tosh that he was only asking because he didn't want to say anything crass to upset me and if I was that annoyed with him why didn't I stop the conversation before I did, instead of just sitting there eavesdropping. Maybe I wanted Tosh to tell him what had happened so that I didn't have to._ As he watched, however, Jack jumped to his feet, grabbed his coat from the coat stand and left the shop at a run, closely pursued by Tosh. Ianto was conscious of a feeling of disappointment blossoming in his chest like a concrete chrysanthemum, it made breathing hard. _Looks like they have got what they were waiting for,_ he thought _, case must be close to being over so it's pointless beating myself up over this. I'll probably never see Jack again._

* * *

><p>The screaming alarm on the cog wheel door woke Owen from his slumbers. With a muffled oath he staggered to his feet, rubbing at the crick in his neck and looked around in confusion. He automatically checked Tosh's workstation expecting to see Gwen sulking there as she had been when he dozed off but instead Tosh was there her face serious and drawn and her fingers tapping furiously at the keyboard as she swore softly in Japanese under her breath. Owen quailed, if Tosh was cursing in Japanese things were very, very not good<p>

He approached with caution, 'Tosh? What's going on?'

'Ofufakku!'

'Tosh?'

'OFUFAKKU!'

If Tosh was telling him to fuck off, even if it was in Japanese, then clearly he was not going to get any sort of sensible response from his tech genius colleague. Owen turned away to hunt for Jack who had barrelled through the Hub at the speed of light shouting for Gwen every step of the way. Raised voices were now detectable from inside Jack's office and Owen moved to stand silently outside of the door as he listened, shamelessly.

* * *

><p>Gwen had been dozing happily on Jack's bed, hand still inside her knickers stroking herself from time to time enjoying the sparks of painpleasure she was coaxing from her almost spent body. She was fantasising about laying Jack's arms, his would be the hand lazily drawing out her pleasure whilst she would hold his softening cock in her hand and listened to him murmuring how much he loved her into her hair. She felt relaxed and happy, drifting in her fantasy world.

So it was, therefore, a complete shock to find herself yanked unceremoniously from Jack's bed by an extremely irate Captain, hustled up the ladder and dumped on the floor of Jack's office. Gwen blinked muzzily up at Jack through tangled hair and made ineffectual efforts to pull her jeans up. Jack slapped her hands away,

'Stop it, you slut' he snarled before raising his voice and yelling, 'Owen, Tosh in here now!'

As the other member of his team ran into the office, Jack pushed at Gwen with his foot, keeping her down on the floor.

'Tosh?' he said, 'anything?'

Tosh shook her head, 'No, Jack I'm sorry. The program worked perfectly, it picked up the signal but it wasn't triangulated in time so we don't have the information we hoped.'

Jack nudged Gwen with his boot once more, none too gently 'Want to explain why that is, Cooper?' he enquired icily.

Gwen made an effort to sit up, 'Jack, I...'

'You had one job,' said Jack, 'one job that would have saved lives and gone a little way to redeeming your pitiful behaviour in the field, one job that may have offset those dead aliens that you murdered.'

'Jack' Owen and Tosh protested in unison.

'She deserted her post, again,' Jack's voice began to raise as he gave the true force of his anger full sway, 'she jeopardised innocents lives again, she sabotaged our mission, again, because she took some time off to go down to my quarters and fucking play with herself!'

Gwen had managed to pull up her jeans and scramble to her feet. 'Oh please,' she snapped. 'like you have never had a quick blow job when interviewing witnesses and you...' she turned and pointed dramatically at Owen, 'you are constantly out on the pull for a meaningless shag.'

Owen went red and opened his mouth to respond but Jack got in first, 'I have never endangered a single sentient being in pursuit of my own selfish pleasures and Owen is never anything but professional when he is at work.'

Owen grinned, 'thanks, boss'

Jack didn't even spare him a glance, 'don't get cocky, I'm exaggerating to make a point here.'

'Oh'

Gwen threw a triumphant look at Owen but her smug demeanour slipped when Jack grasped her arm and began to march her towards the medical bay. 'Owen, with me' he growled, 'and get it ready.'

'You sure, Jack?' Owen sounded a bit worried

Hell, yeah. Should have done it after her last fuck up' Gwen began to struggle and Jack tightened his grip making her yelp; 'keep still' he snarled, 'Owen and I have been working on this iteration of Retcon for a while now, we started round about the time I began to realise what a liability you were and that sooner or later we would end up in this situation.'

Owen appeared holding a fearsome looking syringe, 'this will hurt less if you cooperate' he told Gwen who began to babble a confused litany of apology and justification whilst struggling to free herself. Jack pulled her close and held her close against his chest whilst forcing her arm away to give Owen access to a vein.

'I'm sorry,' panted Jack, 'I'm not usually a petty man but I helped Owen to develop this just for you. It's Retcon plus. It won't just wipe your memories of Torchwood; it will wipe everything you are. Memory, language, thought, voluntary actions...'

'Bowel and bladder control' added Owen gleefully

'er yeah, sorry about that' said Jack, not sounding sorry at all, ' certainly your ability to eat and drink will depend on the kindness of your carers, I'm not 100% positive that it won't affect involuntary systems won't be affected – breathing might become a problem too.'

Owen removed the needle from Gwen's arm and taped a small piece of gauze over the injection site, 'done' he said with satisfaction, 'now what, Jack?'

Jack released his hold on Gwen who, shocked, merely stood staring at the two men. 'Take her upstairs and dump her on the plas. I really don't give a shit what happens to her after that.'

For a nano-second Owen looked as if he was about to protest, but then he gave a small shrug and led Gwen away.

* * *

><p>Jack turned back to the central area of the hub to see Tosh standing in the entrance of the med unit holding out a cup of coffee to him. 'Jack? Are you alright?'<p>

Together they walked over to the sofa and sat down. Jack sipped his coffee and gave a heavy sigh, 'I'm OK thanks Tosh, just annoyed with myself for giving her so many chances. The pain, the suffering of the sex slave in that hellish place is all down to me now. We have to re-think this, I need you here in the Hub to monitor the trace programme and I'll carry on at Celtic Mythos. Much as I hate the idea I guess we are gonna have to ask UNIT to stand by, in case we need their help but I really want to close this down myself. I owe it to those victims.'

'OK' Tosh nodded and laid a gentle hand on Jack's arm, 'but I was really thinking more about the situation with Ianto. I have never seen him so angry, Jack; have you any idea about how to fix this?' Jack shook his head, sadly and Tosh rested her head on his shoulder. 'If we are going to catch these guys, you are going to have to go back to work at the shop with Ianto refusing to speak to you and continuing to push you away – can you do that?'

Jack rubbed his face is if he was washing without water, 'I don't have much of a choice do I?'


	7. Chapter 7

Ianto usually loathed travelling by train, preferring to drive his own specially converted car but the thought of two hours or so to try an catch up on his sleep since he had little or no sleep the night before, together with the fact that attending the convention meant he would have some distance from Jack which would give him the space to sort out his own muddled feelings meant he wheeled himself into the standard class carriage in a fairly equable mood.

He put the brakes on his chair and stared, sightlessly, out of the window. His sleepless night had been spent thinking about Jack, about how his skin burned whenever Jack brushed against him, about how just watching Jack's mobile mouth speaking, laughing and oh gods eating could give him fantasies so filthy they took his breath away and left him aching and hard. Although there was still a low ember of betrayal glowing low in his gut, Ianto had almost convinced himself that he had misread Jack's friendly concern for prurient curiosity. He almost wished he could afford to ditch the convention and return to the store to talk to Jack but not only had he been looking forward to the event for months, he had a number of commissions from clients that could be quite lucrative if he managed to fulfil them.

He was pulled from his reverie by one of the train staff approaching him; she smiled at him, 'Mr. Ianto Jones?' Ianto nodded, the woman's smile grew even broader, 'You have been up graded to first class, sir' she said, moving behind him and grasping the handles of his chair, 'if you will permit me, Sir, I can take you to your new seat, space, er...' she trailed off in confusion.

Ianto turned and smiled at her, 'that's fine' he said, 'I didn't know trains did upgrades'

The stewardess was wheeling him efficiently out of the standard class coach and towards first class, 'we don't,' she said, 'but we were notified that a first class ticket had been purchased for you.'

Ianto frowned, in confusion 'by whom?' he asked.

They had arrived in the first class carriage and the stewardess was manoeuvring Ianto and his wheelchair into the dedicated space that had been booked for him, 'I'm afraid I don't know, Sir' she said but they also asked that we give you this' from the overhead storage space she took a paper bag from Jackson's bakery. When Ianto opened it he could not hold back a huge smile, there was a cinnamon swirl pastry inside, Jack had forgiven him his bad temper and had opened the door for dialogue.

* * *

><p>Jack's entrance in Celtic Mythos that day was far removed from the confident swagger with which he had entered the shop over the previous three mornings although his glance did automatically linger on the sofa where he and Ianto had become accustomed to share coffee and a pastry before starting the working day. His heart sank when he realised there was no sign of his temporary boss.<p>

Adam sidled up beside him, 'he's not here today,' he murmured, 'booksellers convention in London'

'Oh yeah, 'Jack remembered Ianto talking about it quite animatedly.

'So,' Adam looked up at Jack from under his lashes, 'you are stuck with me for the day.'

Jack looked down into Adam's brown eyes; he was still smarting from the lack of trust that Ianto had shown him and the cruel way in which he had spoken he had spoken. Adam had made his interest in Jack obvious from the first day that Jack had begun "work" in Celtic Mythos. There was a reason he didn't do emotions or relationships he reminded himself, maybe a quick, meaningless fuck with a pretty young man would help him retrieve his equilibrium. If Ianto was going to be cold and stand offish he could hardly blame Jack for seeking warmth elsewhere. 'I can think of worse things to be stuck with.' he smiled.

* * *

><p>By mid-afternoon Ianto was more than ready to go home; he had had a most successful day, had managed to source most of the items of his list of customer orders and had bought a number of rare books at most reasonable prices. The good mood that Jack's thoughtfulness had engendered in him had sustained him throughout the day; the only blemish on his happiness was the fact he had left his mobile in Cardiff and so had been unable to contact Jack to thank him for his kind gesture. He had decided to take an early train back to Cardiff and then, once he was home, ring Jack and invite him out to dinner, on a real date. <em>It's time I faced up to what I want;<em> he thought to himself _and what I want is Jack._

* * *

><p>By 5.30 Cardiff was being battered by torrential rain as the tail end of a hurricane made UK landfall and the plas was pretty much deserted. Adam and Jack stood side by side at the window of Celtic Mythos and stared out.<p>

'I don't think we are likely to get anyone else in tonight, do you?' asked Jack.

'No,' Adam ran his hand down Jack's back, smiling as he felt the other man's muscles tremble under his touch, 'I reckon we can assume that we have the place pretty much to ourselves for the next thirty minutes before we close up.' he turned to the coffee bar where Gemma was chatting to Cathy, 'Cathy if you will make us a couple of cappuccinos, you can get off early if you want, you too Gemma. Jack and I will hold the fort until closing time.'

'Great,' Cathy threw Adam a big smile as she hastily prepared the two drinks whilst Gemma went off to get their coats.

Jack and Adam settled on the sofa, sipping their coffees and waving good bye to the two women as they left/ Jack stretched his arm along the back of the sofa and idly wound his fingers in Adam's thick hair. 'So, what shall we do to pass the time? Do you have any ideas?'

Adam gave a peculiar slanted grin and shuffled a lot closer to Jack, 'I have a thought or two' he said in a low throaty growl, He placed his finger at the corner of Jack's mouth, 'you have a little foam just...' His voice died away as Jack sucked his finger into his mouth.

Eventually Jack released Adam's finger with a lewd slurp, 'mmm, tasty.' he said, 'is all of you that good?' and he leant forward to kiss him, sucking gently on Adam's lower lip until he sighed his mouth open and allowed Jack's tongue in. Jack tangled his fingers in Adam's hair as Adam reached to cup the nape of Jack's neck pulling him closer.

* * *

><p>Ianto parked his car in the underground car park under Celtic Mythos and took the lift up to the first floor of the shop, humming quietly to himself. Wheeling himself onto the first floor gallery, he was stunned to see the shop deserted and Adam Smith and Jack Harkness making out like teenagers on the sofa in the middle of the store. He was just about to...well he wasn't too sure what he was about to do when the two men broke apart panting. Jack ran his fingers down Adam's cheek, 'want to take this some place less public?' he asked, gesturing at the large glass windows.<p>

'My flat is just around the corner,' said Adam, 'I'll lock up, you grab your coat.'

Jack hesitated, 'actually I was planning to stick around. I was hoping to have a word with Ianto.'

Adam put his hand on Jack's shoulder, 'he said he would be back quite late, remember?'

'Oh yeah' Ianto could see the brilliance of Jack's smile reflected in the glass window of the shop. He seemed so excited at the thought of going home with Adam, another indication that he was lying to Ianto about being his friend. 'I can probably catch him tomorrow' said Jack, 'it's not that important.'

_Is it me?,_ thought Ianto. _Do I misread every interaction I have with this man? I thought he liked me as much as I liked him and then he gossips about me behind my back; upgrading my train ticket and sending me breakfast was so kind and thoughtful but then I come back to find him sucking face with that creep Smith. The really stupid thing is me thinking I had a chance of a friend. I should stick with all the things I said yesterday and let this go. _

Silently Ianto moved back to the lift, the balcony on his fourth floor apartment faced the direction of Adam's flat – despite his earlier bravado he hurried to open the French windows to get a view of the street below. Choosing not to examine his motivation for so doing, he wheeled himself out onto the small terrace which was being pelted by the rain. Down below, he could see Jack and Adam huddled under an umbrella hurrying arm in arm towards Adam's place. Jack glanced up and, seeing Ianto there raised a hand in half hearted greeting, his steps slowing. Adam leaned in and whispered something in Jack's ear that made him laugh out loud and his gaze dropped to rest on Adam's smiling face, Ianto clearly dismissed from his mind. Hands gripping the balcony rail tight enough to whiten his knuckles Ianto sat and stared at the empty plas even after the two laughing men had disappeared from sight


	8. Chapter 8

Jack was making his way back to his room under the hub after a highly satisfactory six hours with Adam. As he made his way Celtic Mythos Books he felt a small spasm of guilt. He had felt really bad about how things had ended between him and Ianto the previous day, leaving in such a hurry to deal with the alarm from the phase detector and then dealing with Cooper's almighty fuck up had used up the rest of the day. Jack had just managed to find time to upgrade Ianto's train tickets and call in favour from an old "friend" who worked for the railway and promised to pick up the cinnamon swirl and deliver it to Ianto's train on time. He had hoped that Ianto might call him to say thank you but despite checking his phone all day there was no message from the young man and Jack's hopes had fallen even lower, clearly Ianto did not want to try to mend their budding friendship or to progress things any further with Jack. Fortunately, it was not in his nature to dwell too much on the things he couldn't change and nothing cheered him up like boisterous sex. Now he felt, if not happy, at least content in a pleasantly sore kind of way and even the continued rain could not dampen his spirits; even so, he knew that the time he had spent with Adam meant nothing at all – he still wanted Ianto, wanted to try to make something real with Ianto. He shook himself, he didn't even know why he was feeling so guilty, he had known Ianto Jones for less than a week and they weren't even dating never mind anything else. So why did Jack feel like he had cheated on the young bookseller? As he made his way past the building that housed Celtic Mythos and Ianto's flat, he glanced up at Ianto's window, remembering the sad and lonely figure who had been watching him and Adam some hours earlier; with a shock he saw that Ianto was still there, out on the balcony in the driving rain.

* * *

><p>Swearing quietly to himself, Jack sprinted to the underground garage and, using his wrist strap to override the security controls of the lift, hastily punched the button that would take him up to Ianto's apartment. Once there, Jack did not hesitate, kicking open the door and sprinting across the spacious apartment to the sodden and still figure out on the balcony.<p>

'Ianto?' Jack knelt at the side of Ianto's chair and took his icy cold hands into his own warm ones, 'Ianto? Have you been out here all this time?'

Eventually Ianto turned his head to look at Jack, for a couple of seconds his handsome face was completely blank then a small frown appeared, 'Jack? Why are you here?'

Jack put a hand on Ianto's leg and flinched at how sodden his trousers were. He stood up and grasped the handles of Ianto's chair, 'we need to get you warmed up.' he said briskly, 'then you and I are going to have a long talk.' His feeling of disquiet grew as Ianto sat passively allowing Jack to wheel him back into the flat; Jack knew that it drove Ianto mad when people pushed him around in his wheelchair without his consent and the lack of the usual string of Welsh profanities was most disturbing.

Jack ran to the wet room and set the shower running, he then made his way back to Ianto and, taking his face between his palms made the young bookseller look into his face, 'Yan, we need to get you out of these wet clothes, do you want me to help?' Ianto looked at him blankly and Jack repressed a worried sigh. 'Right then.' He efficiently striped the moribund man of his saturated clothing and then equally efficiently removed his own clothes, scooped Ianto up into his arms and carried him towards the wet room from which steam was billowing.

Once inside, Jack placed Ianto on a stool that was usefully placed under the shower heads and gently began to wash the frozen man. Jack tried not to think about the distress that had caused Ianto to sit in the pouring rain for six hours but, instead concentrated on gently massaging the clammy skin, hoping to get the blood flowing, keeping up a constantly litany of meaningless chatter to try to capture Ianto's attention whose empty stare was freaking him out slightly. As he surveyed a bewildering selection of hair products, wondering which of the four different shampoos Ianto's favourite was, a soft Welsh voice from behind him said 'coconut'

Jack swung round, confused, 'what?'

'I like the coconut shampoo best'

Jack kept his back to Ianto to hide his smile, 'coconut, it is then'

* * *

><p>After half a hour Jack judged that Ianto's core temperature was on its way back to normal so he wrapped the sleepy man in a large warmed towel, rubbed them both dry and carried Ianto over to the large bed. Jack competently dressed Ianto in warmed soft cotton lounge pants and a tee-shirt, before retrieving his own boxers and slipping under the duvet. He pulled the unresisting man into his arms, resting his chin on the top of the dark hair which was curling in an unruly fashion. For a long while the two men lay in silence, then Jack felt Ianto give a huge sigh and whisper, 'what are you doing, Jack?'<p>

'Your core temperature was way down; sharing body heat like this is the best way to bring it up. Actually skin to skin is better but I thought you would be more comfortable like this'

He could feel Ianto's feeble smile against the skin of his chest. 'No' he clarified, 'what are you doing here...with me?'

'You are my friend,' said Jack carefully, 'and you are unhappy. That's my fault. Where else would I be?'

'It's not your fault I'm unhappy.' said Ianto softly, 'it's mine. I saw something I thought I might have a chance at but I was wrong. Serves me right for daring to hope, I should have known better. I'm sorry I ruined your night'

Jack frowned, 'you haven't ruined my night. How did you work that out?'

Ianto wriggled uncomfortably in Jack's arms, 'well, you know...I saw you heading off with Adam. I guess that you would rather be home in the warm thinking about what a great time you had with him than caring for an emotional screw up like me.'

Jack risked dropping a kiss onto Ianto's temple, 'I don't think you are an emotional screw up,' he said. 'I think you are brilliant and wonderful and funny and gorgeous and...'

'No, no I'm not. I'm weak, a coward. I'm pathetic, I'm terrified of love, I'm flawed and broken. I don't deserve to be happy. '

'Nonsense' Jack's arms tightened around the young man, 'you are so beautiful, you are kind and caring, witty and clever. Not to say sexy as hell'

Ianto pulled back to look at Jack, his eyes full of sadness, 'don't make fun of me, Jack. I couldn't bear that from you'

Jack could not stop himself; he leant forward and placed a soft tender kiss on Ianto's luscious mouth. After an initial hesitation, his lips were a soft and eager and his mouth opened willingly under the gentle pressure of Jack's kiss. Jack slid his hands under Ianto's tee shirt running his hands over the soft and, he was pleased to note, warm skin of his back. It was like stroking silk, just the sensation of his fingers on the soft skin was making Jack hard, so before he let himself take things too far, before he got lost in the warm of Ianto's beautiful mouth, he pulled back. Ianto had his eyes closed, long thick lashes resting on the pale skin of his cheeks; his mouth was slightly open and a faintly stunned expression was on his face. For a long minute he didn't move or open his eyes, Jack began to worry that he had ruined things completely, until Ianto opened his eyes and murmured 'wow'

Jack smiled, relieved that possibly he hadn't ruined things after all, 'wow?'

Ianto smiled, 'well I don't really have anything to compare it with but I would say...definitely wow'

Jack moved in for another kiss then what Ianto had said pinged in his brain, 'wait, what did you just say?'

Ianto had buried his face in Jack's broad chest once more but his blush was visible across the back of his neck, Jack thought it was adorable. 'That was kind of...well... my first kiss.'

'With a man?'

'Ever'

Jack thought his heart would break, how did someone as gorgeous as Ianto Jones get to his mid twenties without ever being kissed? 'Well,' he said as he placed his lips on Ianto's once more, 'we'll have to make up for lost time, won't we?'

* * *

><p>When Ianto woke up, he was feeling languid and content. He lifted his head as glanced at the clock, 4 a.m. He couldn't believe he felt so rested after just 3 hours sleep; he rarely slept so deeply and so well. Jack was sprawled across his chest, one arm holding him close, the other thrown above his head his fingers tangled possessively in Ianto's hair. Ianto could feel Jack's frighteningly impressive erection pressing against his hip and could not help tensing. This was the first time he had ever shared a bed with anyone at all, never mind anyone as gorgeous as Captain Jack Harkness, and he was worriedly aware of his complete lack of the type of experience a man like Captain Harkness would appreciate, although last night Jack had confined himself to kissing Ianto into a state of bliss, demanding nothing more of him. Ianto had managed to gasp an apology for the way he had railed at Jack and Toshiko and stammered his thanks for the upgrade and the breakfast that Jack had provided for him making Jack laugh and kiss him harder.<p>

Ianto had never felt so adored, so cherished, so...loved. Gods it would be so easy to get used to that level of affection, so addictive to wake up every morning in Jack's strong arms. He squeezed his eyes tight shut trying to ignore the sting of tears; a muffled sob escaped him and woke his bed mate. Two startling blue eyes smiled into his own.

'Hello , beautiful' Jack yawned.

'Hello' Ianto's answering smile must have been a bit wobbly because Jack's grin faded and he scrutinised Ianto's face.

'Everything alright?' asked Jack tentatively.

'Thank you for looking after me,' whispered Ianto,

Jack gave him a relieved kiss, 'it was my pleasure,' he told him, 'you are delicious, I couldn't get enough of you.' he hesitated, 'I know you must be freaking out slightly but I really want this thing between us to work so we can take this a slow as you like, you are completely in control...'

'No' interrupted Ianto, 'last night was wonderful. I'll remember it for all of my life but there is no "thing." We can't be together. I don't deserve such happiness.'

Jack frowned, 'you said that last night,' he observed, 'what makes you think that, Yan? What happened to make you hate yourself so much? Tell, me sweetheart, please. Let me help'

Ianto opened his mouth to refuse, to brush off Jack's concern but to his astonishment the story that he had held inside for most of his life came spilling out.


	9. Chapter 9

'My mam and tad really loved each other, ya know' Ianto began, 'they were so in love that the worst thing they ever did was to have me, they were so wrapped up in each other that there was no love left over for a third person in their relationship. My mother was worse than my tad, she really loathed me because she thought I spoiled everything but he tried, he really did, of course that made my mother worse because she couldn't bear sharing him with me even a little bit.' Jack pulled him closer on buried his lips in the young man's hair a cold wave of fury swept through him, _I'll love you_ Jack thought, _I'll love you so much that everything bad that happened before you met me will just fall away. _He forced himself to remain silent as Ianto continued.

'When I was seven I got a very severe chest infection. I was really sick and my Tad went out to the pharmacy to get some child strength paracetamol to help bring my temperature down. On the way home he was knocked down and killed by a drunk driver. My mother blamed me; she wouldn't let me cry, not even at the funeral, she said I had no right to cry because it was my fault he was dead. Every day she told me I was unfit to love any one, she said that anyone I loved would leave me and it would always be my fault.'

Jack rubbed his cheek against Ianto's, 'she sounds hideous' he opined recklessly.

Ianto sighed, 'she didn't know how to love more than one person,' he said, 'and when that person died she didn't know how to love anyone else – not even her own son.'

'But, babes, you were just a little kid,' protested Jack, 'how could she be so cruel?'

Ianto laughed,' no she was happened time and time again, my grandmother, the nice lady who lived next door - anyone I loved, they died and it was always my fault.'

'No, no' protested Jack, squeezing him tightly, 'people get old, they die. It's no-ones fault it's just life.'

Ianto was shaking his head, 'No, it was my fault. After Nian died, I started being careful, really careful not to get close to anyone but when I was twelve a new kid started at my school. His name was Jake and he wouldn't take "no" for answer. Everywhere I went, there was Jake, he sat next to me in all my classes, he ate lunch with me every day and, because he lived on the next street to us, he walked home with me every day. In the end I couldn't help myself; he was so kind to me and he was so loving, always touching my arm, holding my hand and I... fell in love with him . Oh I never told him but I couldn't bring myself to push him away the way I knew I should.'

'What happened to him?' asked Jack softly

'One day he wasn't at school, he never missed school, so at lunchtime I went round to his house. The police were there; they wouldn't let me in or tell me what was going on so I just went home, of course my mother had no scruples in filling me in. Apparently Jake's father had been embezzling from the solicitors firm that he worked for and had been found out. He had come home and killed Jake's mum with a carving knife, then slashed his wrists. He didn't know Jake was at home, sick with flu or I guess he would have killed Jake too. Jake's mum only decided to keep him at home after his dad had gone to work. His aunt came and took him away and I never saw him again. I know he wrote to me, because when my mother died I found his letters, locked away in a box.'

'Oh Yan'

Ianto managed a shaky laugh, 'It was probably for the best, my mam certainly thought so and wasted no time in telling me so. I'd learnt my lesson by then and managed to avoid any... entanglements.'

Jack frowned, 'I don't understand. If she hated you so much why did she try so hard to keep you with her?'

'Because even though she hated me I looked and sounded just like my Tad,' said Ianto, 'she could pretend it was just the two of them again, especially when she was drunk which by then was pretty much all the time. It was only if I showed any sign of independent thought or of my own personality then she had to diminish me to keep me with her. After what happened to Jake my world contracted back to school and home until I got a scholarship to university. I'd actually been accepted by Cambridge to study history and literature but my mother threatened to kill herself if I left.' Jack only just managed to restrain a snort of cynicism, contenting himself instead with rearranging their bodies so that Ianto was resting on Jack's chest, all the better to hold him closer. With a sigh of content Ianto cuddled closer; _might as well enjoy this for as long as I can before I repulse him completely_ he told himself, before continuing. 'I couldn't bear to have another death on my soul so I turned Cambridge down and negotiated a scholarship with the university here at Cardiff which is where I met Lisa.'

Ianto reached across Jack and snagged the bottle of water from the bedside table. He took a long swig trying to ignore the way Jack's gaze rested hungrily on his throat as he swallowed. 'Anyway,' said Ianto, 'I met Lisa on my very first day. I bumped into her as I was leaving the library and she helped my pick up all the books she knocked out of my arms, then she insisted on buying me a coffee as a way of apologising.' He gave a small smile, 'she reminded me a lot of Jake, another one who was adamant that we would be friends but she never had Jake's unassuming affection, in fact she was a bit of control freak. '

'Did you like her,' asked Jack curiously. To him Lisa sounded like Ianto's mother – a selfish woman who decided what she wanted and didn't care how she got it. Ianto shrugged, 'she was OK, I guess. I got used to having her around. We used to do stuff, go to the cinema, the theatre, things like that, it was nice to have a social life for once. Even my mother liked her.' _I bet she did_, thought Jack, _they sound like they were cut from the same cloth._

Anyway, we probably would have just drifted on like that until Tristan came along. He was Lisa's half-cousin and six months behind us at the uni. He started hanging out with us. He was, he was...' Ianto raised his head to look Jack in the eye, 'oh Jack, he was so beautiful, I loved him from the moment I saw him but Lisa had her eye on him too. It made things really difficult, Lisa started to get really sarky and spiteful, putting me down all the time, pointing out how useless I was. She was right of course, I AM useless...' Jack rolled his eyes_, I'll make him see how wonderful, how loveable he is if it's the last thing I ever do_ he promised himself.

'Tristan used to stand up for me when Lisa got really nasty,' continued Ianto. He smiled, 'the best time were when it was just him and me.' Jack raised a quizzical eyebrow and Ianto gently bumped noses with him, 'not like that, we just used to sit drinking coffee and talking. He was so funny and smart, he was studying history too so we had that in common.'

'Sounds like he was very special' observed Jack

'He was. I think, if he had lived we would have started something amazing.'

'Yan, can you tell me about the accident?' asked Jack, 'You don't have to but...I really would like to understand.'

Boldly Ianto leant in and kissed him, 'OK but please try not to hate me too much' He paused to pull himself together and went on. 'The closer Tris and I became, the more it bothered Lisa. On the night of the accident, it was her turn to drive and Tristan had insisted that I sit in the back of the car with him. We still hadn't really acknowledged what we felt for each other then suddenly Tristan reached across and took hold of my hand, like this.' Carefully Ianto lay his forearm against Jack's pressing their palms close together and entwining their fingers. Jack had not experienced anything so erotic and romantic for a long time; Ianto's pulse point rested against his own and Jack could swear that he could feel every crease and line of Ianto's palm against his own skin.

'He loved you.' he said softly, 'this was his way of letting you know'

'I know. I loved him too, I hope he realised that' replied Ianto, 'but when I looked up, Lisa was watching us in the mirror, she looked beyond furious. My memory of the actual accident is a bit fuzzy but I'm absolutely certain she drove into the path of that petrol tanker on purpose, she had a terrible temper if she wasn't getting her own way. I don't know how I was thrown free but the next thing I knew I was lying in the road; the tanker was leaking petrol all over the road and the car was on fire. I staggered to my feet, I could see Tristan in the back he was either unconscious or dead – I never found out which – but Lisa was still conscious and trapped in the car.' He took a deep and shaky breath, 'she saw me and started screaming at me to help her but I...I...I froze. I wanted to save Tris, even if he was dead I wanted to save him, but the right thing to do was to help Lisa but...I...didn't...want to. While I was prevaricating and dithering the car blew up and I woke up two days later in Cardiff University Hospital.'

'Jesus! Ianto' Jack buried his face in the young man's hair, the better to hide his own tears. Ianto responded by clinging to him as if he expected Jack to be torn from his arms.

'When I came round, I found I'd lost all use of my legs. The doctors have diagnosed psychosomatic paralysis but they can't explain it beyond that. I guess that's because I have never told then the full story that I have just shared with you, I have never told anyone. If I can't walk, no-one will want me so I don't risk losing them, if I can't walk I never have to make a choice like that ever again.' He gave a shaky little laugh, 'so, now you know what a coward I am, I'm sure I disappoint you and I expect you will be on your way as soon as possible; obviously, because why would a man as wonderful as you want to be associated with a scared, pathetic, frigid, little shit like me? But, please just, before you leave, let me say that what you did for me last night was amazing, I'll always remember your kindness. I understand that things may be difficult between us now you know what I'm really like so I promise to stay out of your way for the remainder of the time you need to be in the store and...' He broke off, confused, as Jack kissed him deeply.

'Can I maybe get a word edgewise?' asked Jack as Ianto lay breathless and stunned, gazing at him, 'you are brilliant and brave. Ok, a little bit damaged but who isn't? So, if I get a vote I'd like to say that last night was one of the most exciting I've had for a long, long time. I was smitten with you from the moment I saw you wheeling towards across the store. I don't care that you are disabled and I don't care why but, if you will let me, I'll be by your side for as long as you can stand me.' He rolled them both so that they were lying face to face, 'I'll love you for as long as you will let me,' whispered Jack tenderly.

Ianto felt the breath catch in his throat as the love and sincerity shining from Jack's face convinced him that he may, in fact, have a future to look forward to and one that contained love and laughter and, eventually sex with this amazing man. A tsunami of emotion overwhelmed him and he began to shake. Jack ran a soothing hand down his back. 'It's OK to cry,' he whispered' that was all it took for every tear that Ianto had repressed from the age of seven seemed to burst from him in a perfect storm of weeping.

And Jack held him close the entire time.


	10. Chapter 10

'Please.'

'No'

'Please'

'No'

'Please, Toshiko. Please, please, please, please, please.'

Tosh sighed; Owen had been on her case ever since she had revealed her familiarity with the Cardiff dark net. He seemed fascinated with her involvement with the sexual underworld and had been pestering her to introduce him either to some of the chat rooms or to take him with her to one of the sex clubs that he was certain she frequented. It was the same every morning and it was driving her insane.

Owen took advantage of her moment of introspection, 'please?'

'No'

Owen managed to pout like a five year old being denied an ice-cream, 'why? Why won't you?'

Time for some truth telling thought Tosh, 'because I work with you and that would make it weird but mainly because you are too...' she stopped herself, looking at her colleagues sulky face; maybe Owen wasn't ready to hear the truth.

'I'm too what?' demanded Owen. Tosh shook her head, already regretting getting into this with Owen; she should have just stuck with repeating "no" until he got bored and wandered off. 'C'mon Tosh, 'demanded Owen, 'I'm too what?'

'Too vanilla'

Owen was outraged. 'Too vanilla?' he spluttered, 'too vanilla?

Tosh met his infuriated state levelly, 'I'm afraid so' she said. 'You have trust issues which would hamper your career as a sub and you are too self-centered to be an attractive dom.'

Owen bridled, 'what would you know about it?'

Tosh held up her arm so that Owen could see the slim leather bracelet encircling her wrist, 'you must have noticed this before,' she said, 'to those in the know it advertises the fact that I am a dom. That means that I control the sexual, psychological and physical experiences of my submissive. I control their pleasure and their sexual release and they trust me to care for them.'

Owen had a sudden vision of kneeling as Tosh's feet, obeying her every command, trusting her to bring him pleasure at her own discretion. He pants became uncomfortably tight and he found it difficult to speak, his throat and mouth were dry. 'Could you...would you...' he began.

'Not for you, no,' said Tosh firmly, 'we are work mates, it would be too difficult. I don't believe you would be able to separate a dom/sub relationship from a professional one. Not everyone is a experienced and flexible as Ja...' she bit her lip and trailed off.

Too late.

'As experienced and flexible as Jack?' asked Owen unbelievingly. 'Jack. JACK has been your sub?' he laughed harshly, 'I don't believe it.'

Tosh met his eyes unblushingly, 'It's not a regular thing but sometimes I gave him what he needs.'

'How did...how did...erm, when...'

Tosh took pity on him, 'You remember that time we had a run in with the slave ship?' Owen did, the slavers had murdered their cargo to avoid what they had termed "legal complications," Jack had taken it very badly. Tosh continued, 'after it was all over, I felt I needed to just, I don't know, re-find myself so I went to one of the clubs I use sometimes, just for a drink in the first place. The club owner approached me and said that one of his most cherished clients was in need of domination; he asked if I could help. It was what I needed too so I agreed.' she paused

'And it was Jack?'

'It was Jack'

'And it was just that one time?'

Tosh shook her head, 'no, we have an...informal arrangement.' She thought about Jack's burgeoning relationship with Ianto and smiled gently, 'although I suspect that Jack may be seeking satisfaction from other sources in the near future.'

'Do you love him?' somehow Owen found that thought more worrying than Tosh acting as Jack's Dom,

'Of course I do' said Tosh, 'but probably not in the way you mean. Jack knows I love him and that allows him to place his utmost trust in me, I know Jack loves me and that allows me to care for him in the way he needs but we are not in love with each other.'

'Bloody hell' Owen was not at all sure how to assimilate what Tosh had just said but, before he could continue his interrogation Tosh abruptly changed the subject.

'Owen, do you know what happened to Gwen after you left her on the plas?' she asked

Blinking slightly at the conversational one eighty, Owen shrugged, 'Jack told me to dump her, so I dumped her. Why?'

'There has been no mention of her. Nothing in the news, nothing on the police bands, it's like she disappeared into thin air. If that retcon plus is everything you and Jack say it was you would think someone would have mentioned finding a completely amnesic, incontinent, woman wandering the plas.'

Owen frowned, she was right, 'so, what are you saying, Tosh?'

'I'm not sure,' said Tosh musingly, 'it's just odd that's all.' Before she could continue the computer at her work station began to alarm. Tosh flew over to her desk and began frantically to tap the keys, 'yessss' she hissed between clenched teeth, 'oh yeah, come to mama.'

* * *

><p>When Ianto woke, the first thing he noticed was that he was alone in his bed. For a moment a cold spasm of fear gripped his heart, he had given Jack full and frank disclosure abut his life and Jack had obviously found it too much to deal with and left at the earliest opportunity.<em>Probably gone back to Adam, to pick up where he left off,<em> thought Ianto, _after all he is a better prospect than me and I notice that Jack was careful not to mention him last night_ However, as Ianto began to manoeuvre himself into a sitting position prior to transferring to his wheelchair he spotted a note on Jack's pillow. Heart pounding he unfolded the paper and read...

_My darling boy,_

_I can't tell you how much I valued the trust you placed in me last night when you told me your story. Please don't think that because I am not with you when you wake up I am in any way judging you or that I have deserted you. I promise that will never happen. This is not the way I would have chosen to tell you but I love you Ianto Jones and, if you will allow me, I'll live in the hope that one day you might love me. _

_Last night was an emotional one for you and I know how exhausting that is so I have gone to open the shop for you to give you time to rest and centre yourself before you come downstairs. I know that sometimes when a person has shared their deepest secrets they feel a bit shy of the person they shared them with so I'll understand if you want to avoid me for a bit but, I would really like to take you out to dinner as soon as possible so that we can talk about whether you think there could be an...us_

_I love you_

_Your Jack._

_P.S We didn't talk about Adam, last night but let me reassure you that there is nothing between us, it was just a one night thing. I know that probably makes me a bit of a slut but with the love of a good man I'm sure I am redeemable_

The post script made Ianto smile; he glanced at the clock, it was 10.30 – he had never been in bed so late in the morning. He rolled onto his back and crushed the note against his chest, Jack Harkness was in love with him, Jack Harkness wanted a future with him, Jack Harkness had spent most of the previous night stroking and kissing his body as if he worshipped it and one thing Ianto was sure of more than anything else in his life was that he most definitely DID want there to be "an...us"

* * *

><p>Jack was working in the bookshop with a broad smile that he just could not seem to keep off his face. His good humour infected the other sales assistants and the customers also, so all in all the atmosphere Celtic Mythos was a particularly cheerful one. Even Adam, who may have been a problem in Jack's embryonic relationship with Ianto, had spent a good thirty minutes helping a pretty young man select a birthday gift for his mother; the interaction concluding with the young man borrowing a felt tip pen and writing his phone number on Adam's arm. Adam saw that Jack was watching and gave a sheepish smile but Jack threw him a big grin and mouthed 'go for it, he is gorgeous' making Adam's face light up.<p>

From time to time Jack glanced up to the gallery, hoping to see Ianto. He knew that Ianto liked to survey the store from that vantage point. Just as he was about to check for the umpteenth time he attention was snagged by the furtive movement of a man outside on the plas. The man, and Jack was certain he was one of the people that Tosh had identified as members of the dark net, was scrutinising the plas carefully and moving somewhat casually to the shop opposite the bookstore which, apparently sold dancewear and ballet shoes and rejoiced in the name of " Dance-a-palooza." Even as he watched the man's outline seemed to flicker briefly as he disappeared, at the same time the bracelet on Jack's wrist cooled and began to vibrate and his phone began to ring almost simultaneously.


	11. Chapter 11

Tosh and Owen jogged across the plas, heading towards Celtic Mythos. As they got close they slowed to a walk so as not to draw too much attention from the passers-by. Owen was wearing a substantial rucksack containing his field med-kit whilst Tosh had a large canvas bag on her shoulderwas concentrating hard upon a piece of kit that would pin-point the source of the time slip and give them the frequency they needed to trigger the lock for themselves.

Jack joined them in the front of the bookshop. 'Hey team'

Tosh smiled, 'Jack'

Owen wouldn't make eye contact, contenting himself instead with a brief, 'hey'

Jack looked at Tosh and raised his eyebrow. Tosh had been afraid of this, Owen was still freaking out about her sporadic dom/sub relationship with Jack so she responded with a quick shake of her head, a sort of non-verbal _don't go there_ message. Jack pulled his mind back on the job.

'Tosh, what do we have?'

'I've got what we need; we can get in at any time. Let's go grab a coffee and I'll talk you through what we have.'

As the three of them entered Celtic Mythos, Jack noted that Ianto was on the gallery discussing the provenance of a complete first edition set of "The Barchester Chronicles" with a potential buyer. Ianto glanced up and caught Jack's eye, a brilliant and affectionate smile swept across his face and he lifted a couple of fingers in a salute of acknowledgement. Owen cleared his throat and dragged Jack's attention back to the matter in hand.

* * *

><p>As the three of them settled on a sofa in a secluded corner of the store, Tosh opened her lap top. 'The tracer programme worked perfectly this time,' she reported, 'I have the frequency that will get us in through the time slip bubble, so we can get in anytime we want. I tried to do a thermal scan but the bubble made the results unreliable, especially as some aliens have a much lower or much higher body temperature than humans do. At a guess I'd say we are looking at around twelve or thirteeen bodies inside right now, but how many of them are slaves I can't tell.'<p>

'Good work, Tosh' Jack patted her knee, affectionately, 'did you bring the equipment I asked for.'

Tosh heaved a large canvas messenger bag onto the low coffee table, 'everything you wanted and a couple of other things that I thought might be useful.'

Jack placed an enthusiastic kiss on her temple, 'you anticipate my every need.' Owen choked on his coffee. Jack waited until Owen had finished coughing, then got to his feet, 'right let's do this' he said, 'I just need to have a quick word with Mr Jones before we leave.'

Ianto had just completed the sale of the Trollope when he became aware that Jack was standing beside him. He looked up and smiled, 'hey'

Jack ran his finger gently down the side of Ianto's face, 'hey' he replied, 'are you OK?'

Ianto's eyes filled with tears at the tenderness in Jack's voice, 'better than OK,' he whispered, 'a beautiful man has told me that he loves me and very soon, I hope, he will take me out to dinner and I'll be able to tell him that I love him too.'

Jack grinned, 'really?'

'Really'

Jack got down on his knees so that he and Ianto were face to face, 'I want to kiss you' he said quietly

'I want to kiss you too'

Gently, lovingly their lips touched briefly and they pulled apart still gazing into each other's eyes until the applause from the customers and sales assistants from the floor below filtered through to them. Ianto leant back blushing, Jack laughed, 'you are adorable.' he kissed Ianto's nose, making him blush harder, 'I gotta go but I'll come back as soon as I can, it might be quite late, is that OK?'

'Yes please' said Ianto, 'I don't care how late it is, just come back'

Jack kissed him one last time, 'count on it.'

* * *

><p>With the frequency data that Tosh had provided to him, Jack was easily able to get the three of them through the time slip bubble. Once inside, Owen gazed with fascination at the pearlescent grey fog that obscured the plas from view. He pushed it with a cautious finger and was surprised to find it solid and slightly chilled. Jack grinned,' everything outside the bubble is 3 seconds in the past, you can't see the past.'<p>

'Huh'

The two men turned as if to approach the innocuous looking shop front but Tosh held them back, 'wait' she commanded, digging around in her satchel, 'ah ha!' She pulled a small oblong object out with a flourish and placed it on the ground at their feet.

'And that would be?' enquired Jack

Tosh smiled wickedly, 'just a little something I've been working on in my spare time,' she said pressing a concealed button on the top of the little box. It let out a low continuous him and a bright purple beam of light shot out of it and transcribed an arc on the ground in front of the Torchwood team and then swept up to a height of around twenty feet. 'It scans for cameras, trip wires, booby traps – anything at all really.' the box gave a satisfied beep and the edges turned green. 'All clear,' announced Tosh.

'Right,' said Jack, unfastening the holster containing his Webley, 'we go in fast, we go in armed, shoot at the slightest sign of resistance. These people have got hold of some serious off world kit here and I don't want to take any chances with either of you or their prisoners. Are we clear?'

Both Owen and Tosh nodded, Owen with some reluctance, Jack knew he struggled to reconcile his role as a healer with the violence that the team often faced, but once Tosh had opened the door with the lockbreaker Owen was at Jack's back as they entered.

* * *

><p>Behind the shop's innocuous facade the decor was clean and bright, they entered in a sort of waiting room which consisted of a couple of comfy sofas, a receptionist's desk and an impressive collection of pornographic magazines. A large and belligerent man appeared from behind the desk.<p>

'Who the fuck are you?'

Jack gave him his most insincere smile, 'Hi there' he said, 'I'm after a tutu and my friends here,' he waved vaguely at Tosh and Owen, 'need new tap shoes. We heard that Dance-a-palooza is THE place to come for that kinda stuff...' he trailed off hopefully.

'How did you get in here?' demanded the large man, who was obviously some kind of caretaker

Jack waved the lockbreaker in the air, 'bit of alien tech,' he confided, 'maybe I got it from the same place you got your time slip device?'

The large man pulled a gun from under the desk and pointed it at Jack, 'fuck off' he snarled.

Jack turned to Tosh and Owen, effectively shielding them from the angry man's sight as he carefully eased his gun from its holster, 'You know?' he asked them causally, 'I don't think this gentleman sells tutus. That is such a disappointment.' Then, with barely a pause, he turned and shot the threatening man in the shoulder.

Owen rushed to where the thugs was writhing on the floor, 'he shot me' the man roared in outraged surprise, 'he fucking shot me'

Well to be fair,' said Owen as he cuffed the man's hands behind his back, making him squeal in pain 'you were gonna shot him.'

Jack knelt down and took hold of the wounded mans chin with fingers of steel, 'are you on your own here?' The man tried to spit at Jack who transferred his grip to his wounded shoulder and squeezed hard making the man scream. 'I'll ask you again, are you on your own here?' he squeezed again

'Yes, yes. I came in to feed the stock. No clients today, the animals need some time to heal. We had a...special event a few days ago and some of the stick was damaged.'

Jack was already on his feet, he kicked the caretaker, hard in his wounded shoulder and then took off, striding down the corridor kicking doors open to reveal empty bedrooms, some with ordinary bedroom furniture inside but others tricked at as dungeons or torture chambers. Tosh followed behind him double checking that he hadn't missed anything in his rage. At the end of the corridor he turned to face Tosh, running his hands through his hair in despair, 'where are they? Where the fuck are they?' He turned to go back to the reception area clearly ready to beat some answers out of the man he had already shot only to find Owen in his way.

'Move' growled Jack

'You are wasting your time, Jack. He's passed out; he can't tell you anything right now.'

Tosh was frowning, 'These shops have basements don't they? To store excess stock and stuff?'

Jack brightened and looked around. An ornate and expensive wall hanging decorated the wall to Jack's left. He grasped it and ripped it from the wall, exposing a small door. It was unlocked, opening easily and switching on the light, Jack, Owen and Tosh descended the stairs and entered into some kind of hell.


	12. Chapter 12

The stairs were steep and poorly lit so Jack, Owen and Tosh moved cautiously. Halfway down, Tosh choked, 'God what is that smell?' she asked as she covered her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her jacket.

Owen gave an experimental sniff, 'that, my dear, is the delicate aroma of rotting flesh and a subtle infusion of excreta.'

'Tosh, wait here' ordered Jack, 'Owen with me'

* * *

><p>Uncharacteristically Tosh did not protest, instead positioning herself at the foot of the stairs, gun drawn, face grim.<p>

The two men slowly entered the dimly lit cellar; the room was very cold and the smell was almost over powering. Twelve small cages, no more than 4 feet square lined the walls, six on each side; They were raised up from the floor so that any waste or bodily fluid could drain down into the shallow channels that ran the length of both walls. A slim, green hand grasped Jack's trouser leg as he walked by and a heavily accented voice whispered, 'please.' Jack pulled the lockbreaker from his pocket and unlocked the cage. Owen shouldered him aside and gently helped the occupant out. The alien that emerged was emaciated and covered in numerous burns and bites, he was also at least seven feet tall, the confined space of the cage must have be agony for him. Owen stroked the injured alien's face and made eye contact with him, 'I will help you,' he said slowly, 'but we need to free the others.' He held up a syringe, 'this is a universal pain killer and sedative, it will help.' Over his shoulder he could hear Jack translating his words into Galactic Common.

'Sank you'

Owen gave a soft smile and injected the drug watching as the alien's three eyes slid shut.

'Oh sweet goddess,' whispered Jack, as he got a good look at the alien's face, 'he's just a kid.' he glanced around the cellar, 'they are all just kids.' He raised his voice and spoke in Galactic Common, hoping at least some of the prisoners would understand him. 'We are Torchwood. We are here to help you. Do not be afraid, we will free you and care for you.'

A soft cacophony of moans and whimpers met his statement and more fingers and hands and, in three cases tentacles, reached through the cage bars in supplication. Owen looked around hopelessly

'Owen' Jack's peremptory shout pulled him back to the here and now, 'I have more patients for you here'

Owen never forgot the nightmare of moving amongst the twelve abused and wounded aliens. Blood of three different colours stained his pants and shirt as many of the prisoners were haemorrhaging from different orifices. Some had been beaten or burned, one or two had pressure sores from being restrained in painful positions. Once he had given pain relief and sedation to all of the captives, Owen straightened up and stared at Jack with tears in his eyes, 'gods Jack, there are so many of them. I don't know where to start. I don't know how to help.'

Without a word Jack pulled Owen into a warm embrace. For a very seconds Owen fell apart, crying quietly into Jack's shirt, taking strength from the other man. Eventually, Jack pressed a soft kiss against Owens temple and released him, taking a step or two back to look into his eyes. 'I know you, Dr. Harper, you don't let stuff like this beat you. C'mon Owen, think, if this lot came into A&E what would you do first?'

'Tri-triage' sniffed Owen, 'work out who needs to be stabilised for later, who can be treated immediately and who isn't going to make it.'

Jack hugged him once more, 'that's the Dr Harper I know and trust'

Owen looked around at the wound and abused aliens slumped on the floor of the cellar and his confidence waned once more, 'but Jack, these people need intensive care, we can't just take them to Cardiff Royal, I'm not familiar with the physiology of more than half of them and even the resources of the Hub may not be enough.'

Jack was on his way back to the stairs, 'Do what you can for these people' he said, 'make them as comfortable as you can, deal with what you can.'

'Where are you going?'

'I'm going to call in a specialist' said Jack.

* * *

><p>Tosh watched as Jack and Owen cautiously made their way through the doorway into the stinking gloom beyond. For once, she was happy to allow Jack to exercise his protective streak – whatever was in that room she was certain she did not want to see it. For a while she stayed at the foot of the stairs and then it occurred to her that she could be of more use to Jack if she could find more information about the men running this operation. Stowing her gun she mounted the stairs to go back to the reception area where she was sure she had seen a computer.<p>

As soon as she re-entered the reception the man that Jack had shot, who had recovered consciousness in the interim, began yelling at her, demanding that she get him an ambulance and report Jack to the police, he seemed willing to overlook the consequences to himself if she did. 'Oh do shut up' snapped Tosh, digging her stun gun out if her bag and placing it in a prominent position. The man subsided and contented himself with just lying on the floor and moaning quietly. Tosh booted up the computer and quickly gained access to the files contained within. She smiled to herself as she hacked into their membership list; she had spent the last few days thinking about how they could deal with these men. Straightforward handing them over to the Heddlu would raise too many awkward questions; she pulled a data stick from her pocket and happily set about sending a sort of reverse Trojan to the email address of everyone whose details were on the computer. Tosh had explained to Jack that a Trojan was non-self-replicating type of malware program containing malicious code that, when executed, carried out specific actions determined by the nature of the Trojan, typically causing loss or theft of data, and possibly system harm. Her reverse Trojan dumped data onto the hard drive of the victims computers, in this case evidence that the men were involved in a city wide paedophile ring. Tosh watched with satisfaction as her programme dumped images and e-mail trails into the computers of all low lives that frequented this repulsive place. She also alerted a contact in UNIT, these men would be arrested by the Cardiff police but their journey through the legal system and their eventual incarceration would dictated by UNIT. These men were going away and would never be seen again – she would make sure of it.

* * *

><p>Jack emerged from the cellar just as Tosh had competed sending an anonymous e-mail to the sex crimes unit of the Cardiff police. He looked pale and shaken.<p>

'Jack, how bad is it?' asked Tosh anxiously

'It's bad, it's very bad' said Jack somberly, 'we're gonna need help with this one.' he pulled out his mobile phone and dialled an extremely long number, it seemed like it rang for a very long time, Jack began to fidget. 'C'mon, pick up, pick up,' he muttered then he suddenly straightened up, 'hey Doc. I need your help. Use my signal to locate me and get here as fast as you can.' He disconnected the call and turned to Tosh with a look of relief, 'help is on its way.'

Just then Owen wandered back into the room, he looked shell shocked, 'Jack, you better come see this' he turned silently and without waiting to see if Jack was following headed back down to the cellar. Jack and Tosh exchanged glances and followed the traumatised medic.

At the cellar entrance, Jack stopped and grasped Tosh by the elbow, 'you don't have to come in you know, Tosh'

Toshiko shook her head, 'no I'll be OK. I need to do this'

Jack took held of her hand and led her into the room. Owen had been busy, he had liberated some bedding from somewhere and most of the aliens were resting on soft duvets and were covered with sheets and blankets. One or two had intra-venous lines in situ and quite a number had dressings covering wounds. Most of the prisoners were sleeping, or at least, dozing lightly; clearly Owen had made pain relief and sedation his priority, the medic appeared in a doorway at the end of the room that Jack had not noticed earlier. He beckoned, 'in here'

Jack and Tosh joined him and gasped in unison, the foul smell was much stronger in here and the source was obviously the dead three bodies that were dumped in the corner.

'Oh no' whispered Tosh.

'It gets worse,' said Owen grimly. He rolled one of the bodies over and shone his torch onto the face. Tosh gave a sift gasp of horror as the sightless eyes of Gwen Cooper stared up at her.

'Guess now we know why she dropped off the radar after we dumped her on the plas' said Owen, 'they must have picked her up almost immediately

'I thought you said the Retcon Plus would virtually make her comatose' said Tosh, 'what use would she be to them?'

'It would be like fucking a corpse' said Jack, bleakly, 'some people pay a lot for that.' A splinter of memory came back to him from his captivity in the hands of the Bo/ac. Occasionally certain prisoners would be fed a drug that paralysed them simulating death. The celebrants who demanded such a service were usually the worst of the abusers. Jack could still remember the agony that was both physical and mental

Tosh looked down, letting her hair fall forward to obscure her face, the pain in Jack's voice indicated that he had personal experience of such people, and she didn't want her sympathy to embarrass the Captain. To her surprise, Owen wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his thin wiry body.

At that moment a strange trumpeting noise reverberated through the cellar and a rush of wind tugged at the coverings of the wounded aliens. This was followed by the sound of a gruff Scottish voice echoing through the cellar.

'Jack? JACK!'

Jack smiled for the first time since they had discovered the cellar and its terrible contents

'He's here' he said.


	13. Chapter 13

Tosh sat on her sofa, gazing sadly at the bottle of wine and the glass that were resting on the low table in front of her. She could not summon up the will reach across and open it. Even though Jack and Owen had tried to shield her from the worst sights of the nightmarish cellar, the horror of what she had seen just would not leave her. Once the Doctor had arrived; he, Jack and Owen had gently and carefully transferred all of the injured aliens into the state-of-the-art medical centre within the Tardis. She gave a weak smile; Owen had looked like a little boy in a toy store as he started around the Tardis med-bay until one of the prisoners began coughing up purple blood and then Owen was back to full on medic mode – all professionalism.

Tosh leant back on the couch, tears welling up in her eyes for the suffering of the aliens they had found and gods...Gwen! Toshiko had not particularly liked the Welshwoman, she had thought her self-centred and selfish, apart from he fact she made it very clear that she would have dropped her knickers at any moment if Jack had asked her to, she had also gone all out after Owen, only really taking an interest in him after Tosh had, unwisely as it turned out, confided her attraction for Owen to her but she would not have wished her to die in that hellhole, nor to be discarded like a piece of trash.

Whilst the injured prisoners were being moved into the Tardis, Tosh had gone back up to the reception area, the man that Jack had shot earlier was lying still with his eyes closed, either asleep or unconscious, Tosh neither knew nor cared. She began to go through all of the computer files hoping to get some information about the men behind this operation. The names she had found earlier were merely men who had joined the club and visited regularly, they were unimportant in the wider scheme of things. The names she really needed to find were the bastards who had kidnapped these alien kids and to find out where they had found the alien tech to enable them to do that. It had broken her heart to see the look on Jack's face when she had to admit that she had found no records of the people behind the brothel. Financial records were brilliantly obscured and however the owners of the building communicated with each other and their clients, there was no electronic trail to find. The guy they had encountered on entering the building really was just a caretaker and was retconned by Owen before being handed over to the police. Tosh had had to content herself by inserting a divert programme onto all the computer communication systems which meant that if anyone tried to contact the organisers the message would automatically divert to Torchwood. It was a long shot but it was all she could think of to do.

In the end, Jack had virtually forced her out of the building with the strict instructions to go home and get some rest. He had promised her that they would both tackle the problem again in the morning and that they would both be better for a nights sleep. Tosh would rather not have had to be alone but Owen had gone off in the Tardis with The Doctor and although Jack was adamant there was still some clearing up for him to do the way he kept glancing wistfully over to Celtic Mythos gave Tosh had a fairly good idea of where he really wanted to be.

She rubbed her eyes, she was exhausted but she knew she would not sleep if she went to bed. She stared hopelessly at the bottle of wine and tried to find the energy to lean forward and pour a glass for herself. Suddenly the silence of the flat was broken by the sustained ringing of the doorbell, almost as if someone was leaning on it for support. Tosh glanced at the clock on her microwave 2.30 a.m, frowning she drew her gun and glanced through the spy hole. Then with a big smile she tucked her gun in the back of her jeans and threw the door wide.

'Owen!'

The medic stood on her doormat, blinking and looking confused, 'Tosh. What time is it?'

Tosh grabbed his arm and pulled him, unresisting, inside the flat. 'You turned up in the middle of the night just to ask me what time it is?' she teased gently.

Owen blinked again, 'The Doctor just dropped me off on the plas,' he said, 'I er...I didn't want to go home to be alone and I wanted to see you, make sure you were OK.'

Tosh smiled happily, 'it's only been about 6 hours since you last saw me,' she said, 'what trouble did you think I could possibly get in to in that time?'

To her surprise Owen pulled her into a tight embrace, 'it's just good to see you, that's all' he whispered into her hair

Tosh looked closer at Owen, his hair was longer and he wasn't wearing the same clothes as he had left in. _Oh_, 'how long were you away?' she asked, softly. She felt him relax against her, happy she had worked it out.

'Six months,' admitted Owen, 'we went to a medical facility in the 48th century, The Doctor reckoned it was the best time and place to treat a disparate group of injured aliens . God Tosh it was amazing, I learnt so much.'

'What about the captives?' asked Tosh, feeling quite content to stay in the circle of Owen's arms for as long as he allowed it.

Owen sighed, 'we liberated twelve, we lost two on the way to the med centre and another one once we were there.'

'Oh, Owen,' cautiously Tosh stroked Owen's hair.

'We saved nine,' said Owen quickly, 'those are the ones the Doctor said we should concentrate on. We got nine of them back to health and back home to their own time. That's what counts.'

'It is, you did good, Owen.'

Owen pulled back slightly and looked searchingly into Toshiko's face. 'God it really is so good to see you.'

'Owen!' Tosh blushed self-deprecatingly, 'you said that already.'

'No' Owen was still holding her, 'I mean to see you, really see you, to see you for the incredible, beautiful, talented woman that you are. How did I miss that for so long?'

And to Toshiko's joy and amazement, he kissed her.

* * *

><p>Ianto awoke to the sound of someone moving quietly through his apartment. He had a brief frisson of trepidation, before he heard a familiar American voice whispering, 'Ianto? Yan?'<p>

Ianto struggled upright and switched on his bedside light, he glanced at his phone, 2.25.a.m. 'Jack'

Jack appeared in the doorway of Ianto's bedroom, he looked exhausted. He had black shadows under his eyes, his skin had a greyish tinge to it and his voice sounded raw as if he had been crying or screaming for a long time. His coat was stained with various fluids and his whole body language was sad and defeated. He could not look more different to the confident and well groomed man who had kissed Ianto good-bye the previous morning.

'Gods, Jack' Ianto pulled the duvet to one side; 'you look awful, get undressed and get in here.'

'Are you sure?' said Jack uncertainly. 'I didn't...I didn't want to wake you. I just needed to see you, to be sure you were safe.'

Ianto cursed his useless legs, he wanted nothing more than to leap out of bed and pull Jack into his arms instead he was stuck in bed. He tried again, patting the mattress invitingly, 'come on Jack, please. You are too far away from me and I can't get to you'

Jack was swaying with tiredness as he slipped his coat from his shoulders draping it over a nearby chair; he fumbled at his shirt buttons with clumsy fingers,almost sobbing with frustration as he struggled. Ianto held out his hand, 'come here, Cariad, let me help you.'

Jack gave a small laugh and moved to sit on the bed, submissively allowing Ianto to remove his shirt and undershirt. Ianto chucked them over to the chair where Jack's coat lay discarded, 'now take those boots off, get out of those pants and come here where you belong.'

Once Jack was naked and under the duvet, Ianto switched off the light and pulled Jack into a close embrace. 'Tell me' he said simply.

Jack shook his head, 'I can't, it was unspeakable, I don't want you exposed to stuff like that.'

Ianto kissed Jack's hair, 'if we are going to be together,' he murmured, ' and I hope we are you don't have to carry stuff like this on your own anymore.'

'Someone was running an alien sex ring in Cardiff; the main brothel was across from your books store. Fifteen aliens, most of them adolescents, caged, beaten, abused and used for extreme sadistic sex by a bunch rich perverts. '

'But you stopped them, right?' said Ianto, making a mental note to take Jack up on the whole "aliens" thing at any time.

'Yeah' Jack's sigh sounded as if it was dragged from the depths of his soul, 'in a way we did. Only twelve of the prisoners were still alive when we managed to get in there, three were dead. They had been just...dumped in a corner of a room like so much rubbish.'

Ianto was stroking Jack's back, moving his hand in slow soothing circles, holding him tight so that Jack could feel the heat of their adjacent flesh, by the way of Jack's breathing steadied he found it soothing.

Ianto thought for a second, 'Jack, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to but...if you guys are special ops you must have seen terrible things before, this is upsetting you on a more personal level isn't it?'

Jack nodded, his breath hitching once more against Ianto's skin, he took a shuddering breath. 'I was captured by a similar group, once,' he admitted quietly, 'they held me for seven months. That was seven months of being drugged and abused physically and sexually by people who paid highly for the privilege. I remember how it feels to be paralysed, screaming in fear and agony whilst someone cuts into your body or fucks you with a barbed penis. The people that took me had some kind of accelerated healing chamber so we could be quite badly injured but still fit to be fucked by the following day. Soem prisoners took their own lives in despair. Eventually I escaped but it took me a very long time before I managed to see myself as an innocent victim – in a situation like that, confused and medicated, it's easy to be made to believe that everything that happens to you is what you deserve, or is your own fault.'

Ianto kissed Jack on the cheek, 'I understand that feeling' he said with a grimace, thinking of his mother.

'Anyway,' said Jack, 'It's behind me now, not worthy of thought.'

'Is that what you do?' asked Ianto curiously, 'just lock it away and never think about it?'

'I have never spoken of it to anyone,' said Jack, 'until you Ianto Jones'

'Were you the only one to escape?'

'No I managed to get another six people out with me, had to leave five behind.' he paused, 'I do feel bad about that.' Jack's voice had become a monotone that did nothing to show the depth of his feelings until Ianto kissed him and said quietly, 'it's OK to cry'

Those four quiet words, repeated with same loving inflexion that Jack had used only 36 hours or so before, undid him in a way that nothing had for a very long time. The emotions of the day and the powerful memories they had triggered in him, swamped Jack completely and he broke down, sobbing.

And Ianto held him close the entire time.


	14. Chapter 14

**The next morning – 2 conversations**

Jack had been awake for twenty minute and was happily watching Ianto sleep. The concern and comfort the young bookseller had offered him the previous night had shaken Jack to his core. He dimly remembered disclosing to Ianto that aliens were in Cardiff and the matter of fact manner in which Ianto had assimilated the news had given Jack even deeper insights into the boy's caring character. Ianto must have been intrigued about the news that Cardiff hosted extraterrestrial life forms but he had put his natural curiosity to one side and had, instead, concentrated on providing the comfort that Jack had so desperately needed. Such unselfishness took Jack's breath away.

The warm body that Jack was clinging onto began to show signs of waking. Jack propped his chin on Ianto's sternum and smiled into the two sleepy blue-grey eyes.

'Hello'

Ianto grinned, 'hello yourself'

Jack wriggled up Ianto's body and kissed him, 'thank you for...you know...last night. Being here for me, you really helped.'

Ianto kissed him back, 'you did the same for me when I needed it, it's what people in a relationship do for each other.' then he blushed at what he had just said

Jack snuggled close and nuzzled Ianto's neck, 'are we?' he asked hopefully, 'in a relationship, I mean.'

Ianto turned and placed a long kiss on Jack's temple, 'I hope so' he hesitated, all his old insecurities flooding beck, 'I mean...if...if that's what you would like. I know...that is some people would say that taking on someone with a disability us not a good idea'

I'm not some people' said Jack, 'I thought that you knew that by now.'

Ianto chuckled with relief, oh I do. So, we are a couple then?'

'Hmm, I dunno' Jack grinned at Ianto, 'would it be one of those relationships where we share all of darkest secrets and desires.'

'Hell yeah,' laughed Ianto, ' you can start by telling me about the aliens and then you can tell me all your sexual fantasies and we will work out which ones we want to fulfil first.'

The look on Jack's face was a million miles away from the hurt and defeated expression of the previous night, 'Ok then'

* * *

><p>On the other side of the plas Owen Harper was waking up in a strange bed. This was not an experience that was completely unfamiliar to him, what was unusual was the fact that he had no desire to slide out from under the duvet and creep away. He replayed the activities of the previous night. Tosh had welcomed him into her home and held him whilst he fell apart. She had held him, soothing him with gentle words and soft kisses. Then she had taken him to bed and made love to him with such tenderness and joy he had cried as he came. There had been no sign of Tosh the Mistress who was at home in the darker world of sexual domination, the woman who was moving against and around him so lovingly was the one he recognised as his friend and colleague, one he could picture waking up next to for the rest of his days. So, instead of running away, he burrowed closer to the slender warm body that he held in a loose embrace. A soft kiss was planted on his circling arms and Toshiko turned to face him.<p>

'Hello'

'Hello yourself' whispered Owen.

Tosh lifted a tentative hand and stroked Owens face, 'everything alright'

Owen leant into her touch, 'if I could convince you to hang up your whips and leather collars, I think it might be.'

Tosh frowned, 'that's part of who I am Owen. Why would you not want to embrace that side of me?' she raised an eyebrow, 'you trying to change me, Harper?'

Owen sputtered, gods had be ruined this already? 'What, no, no. You are perfect – more than perfect. I, I mean...'

Tosh chuckled, and kissed him on the nose, 'gotcha.'

Owen gave a relieved laugh, 'Who are you?'

Tosh rolled hem both and straddled Owen, 'You know me, Owen Harper, you just never saw me before.'

'I know,' Owen looked downcast 'I'm so stupid.'

'Well luckily,' said Tosh leaning down for another kiss, 'We have the rest of our lives to put that right.'

'Ok, then.'

* * *

><p><strong>One month later<strong>

Jack sighed, sat back in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes. It had been four weeks since he and his team had closed down the alien brothel which was being run on the plas but they were still no closer to finding out who had been behind the operation, nor where they had sourced the alien tech that was being used to cloak their activities. Both Jack and Tosh had spent all the time they could spare to seeking any trace of the culprits but there was nothing. The longer it went on the more Jack agonised; he knew if they didn't find them soon, the people involved would just start their repugnant business up somewhere else.

His eyes drifted to the framed photograph the stood on the corner of his desk and, despite his other worries, a warm smile crawled across his face. Ianto Jones always made him smile whether in photographic form or in reality. After those two nights when they had individually fallen apart in each other's arms, they had, by mutual consent, began a relationship which was helping them to build themselves anew. The relationship was progressing frighteningly quickly, Jack had never loved someone so completely, so fast but he worried that he might be taking advantage of Ianto's lack of experience. Not that Ianto seemed to be complaining, although they hadn't had penetrative sex yet Ianto's enthusiasm for frottage and his willingness to explore the pleasures of a judiciously applied mouth boded well for their sexual future. Just thinking about Ianto's luscious mouth wrapped around his cock, made Jacks pants uncomfortably tight. The fact that Ianto seemed to have fallen in love with Jack every bit as much as Jack had with him didn't hurt much either.

'Tosh, Owen' Jack raised his voice to be heard across the Hub, 'enough for now, let's call it a day. Go home but take the remote rift monitor with you, Tosh. If you need me I'll be...'

'At Ianto's, ' Tosh and Owen chorused in perfect unison.

'Er...yeah' said Jack taken aback, 'how did you know?'

Tosh and Owen appeared in the doorway of Jack's office, 'because Jack,' said Tosh gently and patiently, 'you seem to be the only one who hasn't noticed that you have moved in with Ianto by a sort of osmosis.'

'She's right,' chipped in Owen, 'it starts with a change of underwear, then a few shirts, some toiletries, hair products, your phone charger, your i-pad and then next thing you know all your favourite books are there too.' he indicated the many empty spaces on Jack's book shelves that testified to the migration of so many tomes.

Tosh giggled, the look on Jack's face was priceless, she pulled out her phone and dialled, putting the phone on speaker so they could all hear the call.

'Ianto Jones.'

'Oh hi Yan, it's Tosh.'

'Oh hello Tosh, sorry, I didn't look at the caller ID. I'm making a chilli for when Jack comes home.'

Tosh grinned, 'that's why I'm calling you actually. How long have you and Jack been living together?'

There was a pause, then Ianto's voice came tentatively, 'about two and a half weeks, give or take. I'm not sure that Jack has realised it yet though.'

'When were you going to tell me?' put in Jack

'Jack?'

'Keeping things from me, Ianto?' said Jack with a twinkle in his eye, 'that the sort of thing that can get a boy punished, you know.'

A rich chuckle came from the phone, 'I'll look forward to that, Sir.' Owen looked at Tosh and mouthed, 'Sir?' She giggled.

Jack took the phone from Toshiko's hand and turned off the speaker, 'I'll be home soon' he told his lover.

'Are they making fun of you?' asked Ianto

'A little bit, yeah' laughed Jack, 'but I get to come home to you so I don't care.'

'Do you mind,' asked Ianto with some concern evident in his voice, 'that we are living together, I mean?'

'Hell, no,' laughed Jack, 'I'll move the rest of my stuff in over the next few days and then we'll do something special to make it official.'

'Love you' purred Ianto, his velvet Welsh tones lodging straight in Jack's cock.

Jack swallowed hard, 'love you too.' He ended the call and then looked across to where Tosh and Owen were standing hand in hand grinning goofily at him, 'oh stop it,' he smiled, ' you two are just as bad as we are.'

'Yes, we are, aren't we?' said Owen with satisfaction.

* * *

><p>As the three of them walked towards the invisible lift, the computer at Tosh's work station started to beep urgently. Tosh hurried over to her desk and began tapping keys, 'Jack, we have an incoming message on the frequency used by the sex ring.'<p>

'Open the channel' ordered Jack as he moved to stand in front of the monitor hands clasped behind his back under the skirts of his greatcoat. Tosh thought he looked particularly handsome and heroic and she wished Ianto could see him.

The image that came onto the screen looked like a cross between a humanoid crocodile and a snail, a long snout full of sharp teeth was top by two eyes on long flexible stalks. Jack drew his breath in with a sharp hiss, 'Vloerions' he snarled, 'shit stains of the universe, slave traders, brothel keepers, torturers, gun runners, tech thieves, I should have known'

The being began with no preamble, 'Human, your last payment is overdue by eight cycles. Can I remind you that your stock is only leased and lack of prompt payment will result in...' it looked into the camera and saw Jack for the first time, ' who the freckalia are you?'

'Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood. And you are the low life scum who have been snatching people from their home worlds and selling them into sexual slavery on this planet' He glanced down to where Tosh was busily hacking into the ship's computers and downloading as much detail as she could.

'What do you want, Harkness?'

'I want you out of my system,' said Jack evenly, 'I want you away from this planet and if I find you anywhere near this part of the galaxy ever again, I will destroy you.'

The alien snarled, 'you talk big for a human. Your planet has no intergalactic space flight. You are a child shouting at the dark.'

Jack held up a finger in a just-a-moment gesture and, opening up another window, began to tap in a message, which was in no language Tosh recognised. His task completed, Jack turned his attention back to the crocodile faced alien, 'you seem quite dismissive of me,' he said pleasantly, 'and, I have to be honest, that stings a bit but I think if you glance at your long distance scanner you might just see an energy signature that reminds you of the Shadow Proclamation travel crystals and..yes...if you listen carefully I think you might detect the characteristic sound of a TARDIS materialising.'

'What have you done?'

'I may have downloaded your flight plan and cargo manifest and sent them, together with my report on the situation here in Cardiff to the Shadow Proclamation and as a professional courtesy I also copied in The Doctor.' Jack laughed and over his shoulder Tosh could see a number of rhinocerid humanoids materialising from a bright green glow at the same time as the familiar blue shape of the TARDIS could be seen. 'Not too bad for a child shouting at the dark, eh?' said Jack triumphantly, 'now I can see that you have got your hands full at the moment but get this...' his voice dropped to a low threatening growl and Jack leant forward to make intense eye contact with the Vloerion captain, 'your business with this planet is concluded. I want the names of all the people you have dealt with in the past and maybe the Shadow Proclamation will take your cooperation with my investigation in mitigation.'

The Vloerion snarled at Jack, 'go and disembowel yourself human, we do not treat with you.'

'But you do treat with people who exploit vulnerable races for sexual gratification?'

'They pay.' The Vloerion's face split in what Tosh and Owen assumed was a feral grin, 'they pay well.'

Jack's face cleared, 'you sold them the time slip device didn't you?' he said

The Vloerion laughed again, 'they pay very, very well.' he repeated, 'and part of the service they pay for is complete anonymity, you will find no records in our computer.'

'You...' Jack took a step closer to the monitor as if he wanted to pull the Vloerion through the screen but the Vloerion was snatched away by a massive Judoon and hustled away. His place was taken by the serious and severe face of The Doctor.

'Twice in four weeks, Jack?' he said quirking an eyebrow, 'do I look like a taxi service to you?'

'Who else has the space and resources to relocate...' he glanced down at the cargo manifest and his voice tightened with fury, 'sixty-three prisoners back to their home planets'

The Doctor's expression softened, 'relax Jack, I'll help, of course I will. I'll get these guys home and keep a watching brief of the trial of the slavers. The Shadow Proclamation owes me a few favours, these guys will be going away for a very long and very unpleasant time.'

Jack huffed out a long sigh of relief, 'thanks, Doc' he moved to terminate transmission but The Doctor held out a hand to stop him.

'Just a moment, I know this is hard for you Jack and I know you well enough to realise that you could easily have destroyed these scum with some of the weaponry that Torchwood has accumulated over the years but you didn't. You put the lives of innocents above a need for revenge and I'm proud of you for that. Well done, Captain' He stood tall and saluted Jack, who straightened and saluted him back, before closing the communication link.'

Tosh threw her arms around Jack, whilst Owen slapped him on the back, 'we did it!' he exclaimed jubilantly, 'we caught them and we closed the fuckers down.' Tosh was nodding enthusiastically her smile a mile wide.

'Yeah' somehow Jack's smile did not make it to his eyes, 'I wish we had been able to get the name of the Cardiff side of the operation though. I don't think this is over.'


	15. Chapter 15

Thirteen days after they had identified and dealt with the sex slavers, Jack was stretched out on the sofa with his head in Ianto's lap in what was now officially the home they shared. The rift was being kind to them all at the moment and Jack had been able to get home to Ianto at a reasonably hour for almost two weeks and they were both enjoying the normality of things. Ianto was combing his fingers through Jack's hair, occasionally slipping a hand inside his shirt to gently caress his chest skating the pads of his fingers over Jack's nipples and smiling at his small responsive moans. An open bottle of red wine was on the low table by the sofa and there was a Bach cello concerto playing quietly and the atmosphere in the flat was warm and contented.

Jack turned his head and, moving Ianto's tee-shirt aside, placed a soft kiss on his belly, 'this is nice,' he said

'Yeah' agreed Ianto, 'if someone had told me six months ago that I would be this happy I would have laughed in their face.'

Jack twisted to look up into Ianto's face seriously, 'are you happy? Do I make you happy?'

Ianto bent down and kissed him, 'so happy, I have to pinch myself to remind myself that I am not dreaming. You have given me a life that I never believed I would have. I don't have words enough to tell you how happy you make me and how much I love you.'

Jack smiled against Ianto's lips, 'how about we adjourn to the bedroom and you can show me instead?' He rolled to his feet and positioned Ianto's wheelchair so that he could transfer himself. Just as Ianto had got himself settled, the door of the apartment was kicked open and a large man strode into the room. Jack's hand automatically dropped to where he kept his Webley and he cursed silently as he realised he had locked it in the safe when he had got home as he always did. He stepped quickly away from his lover, trying to keep the intruder's attention on himself. 'Who the fuck are you?' he demanded.

'Who I am doesn't matter,' the man said, 'I want to talk to you, Captain Jack Harkness.' the last said with such satisfied venom that Jack recoiled a pace or two.

Ianto wheeled himself forward before Jack could stop him, 'that does not give you the right to break into our home, you shit.'

'Yan' Jack moved to stand beside the young man and placed his hand on his shoulder; he could tell that this man, whoever he was, was very dangerous but Ianto's fury was coursing through his body making it vibrate like a wire under tension. Jack was afraid that Ianto's anger would make him do something foolish.

'NO!' Ianto was adamant, 'I've been cowed and bullied my whole life but no more,' he wheeled closer to the angry intruder, 'I don't know who you think you are,' he snarled, 'but you either leave right now or I will call the police.' He fumbled in his pocket for his mobile phone

The man snatched the phone from Ianto's hand and, dropping it to the floor, stamped on it then he tangled his fingers in Ianto's long hair, dragged him out of his wheelchair and threw him across the room, where he hit the wall with a disturbing thud and slumped, unconscious, to the floor. 'Be quiet you insignificant little cripple' he snarled. Outraged and furious, Jack sprang forward but the intruder produced a stun gun and discharged it into Jack's chest.

* * *

><p>When Jack regained consciousness he had been bound hand and foot to one of Ianto's dining chairs. He blinked fuzzily at his captor, who was standing in front of him, cleaning his nails with one of the chopping knives from the block in the kitchen. 'I'm sorry,' Jack quipped, 'have we met?' he raised an eyebrow, 'one night stand maybe?' he ran an insulting eye over the man in front of him, 'I do lower my standards occasionally'<p>

The man smacked Jack, hard, across the face, making his eyes water, 'yeah, they told me that you had a smart mouth, Harkness. Do you have any idea how much money you have cost me?'

Jack spat blood from a split lip, 'well, I do pride myself on never being a cheap date,' he quipped, earning himself another stinging slap.

'Aside from the considerable amount of money I have lost since you closed down my special interest club...'

'BDSM brothel' translated Jack

'Together with the inconvenience of losing all my stock.'

'Freeing and repatriating your sex slaves'

'Plus, closing down my supply line.'

'Getting your alien collaborators arrested and imprisoned' interpreted Jack with a smug grin

'I had to pay out well over 250,000 quid just to get information about where you live – surprisingly the residents of Cardiff, both domestic and alien seem to hold you in high regard and with a great deal of affection.' for a moment his threatening demeanour wavered, 'is there anyone in this city you haven't slept with?' he asked curiously. Jack opened his mouth but the man did not allow him time to reply, 'never mind, the important thing is I have you now.'

Over his shoulder, Jack could see Ianto stirring and pushing himself into a sitting position. He tried to keep his expression neutral but something of his relief must have shown in his face, his captor turned round, 'oh good, your little crippled fuck toy is back with us, that's good. I want him to see this.'

'Who are you?' ground out Jack again, struggling against his bonds

'Yeah like I'd give my name to Torchwood,' the man scoffed, 'you can call me Nemesis. I am going to be your worst nightmare.'

Jack laughed, 'there's a long line for that job.'

Nemesis waved Ianto's chopping knife in Jack's face. 'I had planned to use this to pop your eyeballs,' he jabbed the point of the blade towards Jack's eyes, making him reflexively jerk his head back. Nemesis laughed, 'oh yeah,' he gloated, ' first one then the other 'mwpop, mwpop' he gave a high titter, 'but on reflection I want you to be able to see what I do with your fuck cripple when I get bored of carving bits off you.' He balanced the knife on his hand, 'this is a good knife, well balanced, sharp. Bet I could cut your balls off with this, easily. What kind of noise will you make when I fuck you with it? What kind of noise will he make? Which one of you will squeal the loudest, do you think?' He fumbled at Jack's flies and pulled out his penis, 'we'll start with this, shall we?'

'LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU EVIL FUCKER!'

Jack watched in astonishment as Ianto levered himself to his feet. He staggered across the room and snatching up a bronze bust of Anthony Trollope that had pride of place on the coffee table he slammed it down hard on the back of the interloper's skull. There was a loud crack and Nemesis went down like a felled ox. Ianto followed up his attack the several vigorous kicks to the unconscious man's head and a particularly vicious one to his balls, that made Jack's eyes water.

'You fucking bastard, you shit, you bastard, shit, fucker bastard.' Ianto's range of insults seemed quite limited but he was making good use of what he did know.

'Ianto'

'Don't you dare touch him, you sick shitty, shitty...'

'IANTO!'

Ianto stopped his assault and spun to face Jack, taking his face in both his hands 'oh my god, Jack, sweetheart! Did he hurt you?' He bent and captured Jack's mouth with his own making Jack hiss as the pressure opened the split on his lip once more.

'Ianto,' tried Jack again, 'do you see something odd with this picture?'

For the first time since he had catapulted himself across the room to Jack's rescue Ianto appeared to realise that he was standing on his own two feet and was mobile once more, he staggered and semi-collapsed onto Jack's lap, 'I walked' he whispered, 'I got up and I walked.'

Jack wriggled against his bonds, 'I need to hug you but I'm a bit tied up.' Ianto laughed and got to his feet, moving with alacrity over to the knife block on the kitchen counter. Selecting a sharp vegetable knife he efficiently cut through the rope binding Jack's wrists before moving round to do the same to the restraints at his ankles. As soon as the rope parted Jack was on his feet and in Ianto's arms, kissing him senseless.

* * *

><p>Later, when the UNIT security team had left with Alfred Pearson, the mundane name of the man who had given himself the grandiose title of Nemesis, Jack tidied up the apartment and went to join Ianto who was standing on their balcony sipping a glass of wine. Moving quietly, Jack went up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. Ianto rested his head back on his shoulder with a small hum of pleasure.<p>

'Are you OK, sweetheart?' asked Jack softly

'Bit shell shocked, really. The transition from cripple to action hero was a bit sudden and completely unexpected, but on the whole I believe I'm OK'

Jack kissed the back of Ianto's neck, 'you were an action hero, you are MY action hero.'

'I just knew I couldn't allow him to hurt you,' whispered Ianto, 'I knew I had to stop him, nothing was more important than keeping you safe.'

'Oh, Yan,' Jack turned the young man in his arms so that he could look into his face, 'he was armed, he could have injured you, he could have killed you.'

Ianto looked deep into Jack's blue eyes, 'I didn't think about that,' he admitted, 'but even if I had, you...you are worth the price.' Jack's arms tightened involuntarily, pressing Ianto closer to his body, nobody had ever placed Jack's life above their own, of their own volition. Ianto kissed Jack, it gave Jack a jolt to realise that he was kissing away the tears Jack did not even know he was shedding. Ianto gave a beatific smile, 'Jack, I was chained to that chair in more ways than one. I pushed people away, wouldn't let anyone in and then I met you and all of that shit became meaningless. You loved me, you brought me back to life,' he laughed, 'hell, you gave me life, protecting you is the very least I can do for you.'

The determination and vitality in Ianto's face made all Jack's protestations die on his lips, Ianto had presented him with a great gift and he had no right to refuse it. Carefully, gently he placed his mouth on Ianto's; the kiss was slow and sweet and Ianto's lips parted willingly under Jack's own. Jack slid his tongue into Ianto's mouth taken aback as he always was at the wonderful taste of the man. Ianto lay his tongue on top of Jack's and held him in his mouth for several heartbeats before pulling away and smiling at Jack.

'I love you.'

'Love you too'

Ianto gave a triumphant laugh and jumped into Jack's arms wrapping his long legs firmly around Jack's waist, as he had longed to do from the moment they met, 'take me to bed and show me how much.' he demanded. 'I want you inside me, I want to feel you come inside me and I don't wait to wait another second.'

Jack pulled back a little to look directly into Ianto's eyes, 'are you sure?' he asked hesitantly.

Ianto gave a tiny thrust of his hips, making their erections rub against each other though the barriers of their clothes. Jack gave a deep groan which only made Ianto harder.

'Never more sure of anything in my life.'


	16. Chapter 16

Ianto Jones stood gazing at his naked reflection in the glass doors that opened on to his balcony. It was still dark outside but Ianto did not see the deserted plas, all of his attention was turned inward as he tried to make sense of the last eight hours.

He had been unprepared for the rage he had experienced when Pearson had burst his way into their home, the sense of violation and fury had made him reckless. Ianto smiled grimly, he knew he was by nature a passive man, with his upbringing he could barely be anything else, but somehow the invasion of the home he shared with Jack had awoken a streak of protective aggression in him. Ianto reached up and touched his left shoulder, Jack had placed his hand there, not to soothe but to warn when Ianto began to threaten the intruder, one of the things Ianto valued most in his lover was the fact that Jack never once thought of Ianto as weak or in need of more protection than someone able bodied but he had assessed Pearson as dangerous and was sharing the assessment with Ianto through his touch.

Ianto ran his hands through his hair, wincing as his fingers encountered the large lump that was a reminder of his encounter with the wall. He could still vividly remember lying stunned, listening to Jack taunt Pearson and to Pearson's violent threats. If he thought he had been furious at the intrusion into the flat hearing what Pearson had planned for Jack had taken him to a whole different level of anger. Ianto had always thought that anger was hot, the type of blistering fury he recalled from being forced to chose between Lisa and Tristan but the rage that had course through him when Pearson talked of raping Jack with a knife blade was like an arctic blast, freezing the blood in his veins and driving him up and onto his feet before conscious thought even kicked in. _All those hours at the pool and in the gym paid off after all_ thought Ianto to himself, _and now look at you_; he focused on his reflection taking in once more that he was standing proud and tall on his own two feet. What struck him, even more than that, was the look of absolute contentment on his features, he raised his eyes and shifted his focus to the faint image of Jack, mirrored in the glass, sprawled in sleep across the bed, long lashes brushing his gorgeous cheek bones, thick hair mussed and the sheets down around his hips giving him an appealing dishevelled look. He was the one who had put the contentment on Ianto's face and in his life.

The memory that Ianto knew he would cherish, even above the moment when he had regained his mobility was of Jack, pressing his face to the wall of their bedroom whilst he got down on his knees and prepared Ianto with his tongue. Jack had run his lips down Ianto's spine, sucking and kissing each vertebra as he did so, then he had sunk to the floor, separated Ianto's buttock cheeks and licked a long wet stripe down thee sensitive skin making Ianto whimper with need. Jack had blown gently on the moistened flesh before driving Ianto to the edge of insanity by unexpected thrusting his tongue deep inside the yonder man's body. Once Ianto had been clinging to the wall, legs trembling Jack had guided him down to the bed.

'Want do you want, Yan?' he had asked gently

Ianto was already barely capable of coherent speech but had managed to croak out, 'you...in...me, please Jack' then all sensible thought ceased as Jack slowly and carefully inserted a lubricated finger into his arse and gently probed. Ianto had gasped at the sensation and barely noticed when one finger became two, then three. Jack stretched him in preparation and Ianto had moaned in disappointment when those teasing fingers withdrew. He heard the crackle of a condom wrapper and dredged up enough motor control to reach up and grasp Jack's wrist. Jack had immediately stopped, clearly concerned that Ianto was having second thoughts.

'Yan?'

'When were you last tested?' gasped Ianto wriggling slightly as Jack's leaking cock brushed tantalisingly against his inner thigh.

'Last month' replied Jack

'Been with anyone else since then?'

'Not been with anyone else since the day I first met you.' said Jack

Ianto's heart gave a joyful twist in his chest, 'I've never been with anyone ' he reminded Jack, gently plucking the condom from his fingers and tossing it down beside the bed, 'so we won't be needing that.'

Jack had made a strangled noise that sound like a hybrid of a sob and a laugh and bending down kissed Ianto puckered hole making the younger man scream with pleasure. Vaguely Ianto heard the snick of the lube bottle and he had begun to turn over to get onto his hands and knees, he had read somewhere that made things easier, but Jack had stopped him.

'I want to see your face when I enter you for the first time' he murmured, kissing Ianto tenderly, 'want to see your face when my cock makes you come.' Ianto had kept his eyes on Jack's face as the blunt head of his prick pushed against him. The stretch and burn of Jack entering him was mitigated by the expression of wonder and gratitude on Jack's handsome face. 'Oh sweet goddess,' Jack had half sobbed, 'so hot, so tight. I don't think I can hold on for long.' Ianto hadn't cared; the sensation of being one with Jack was so overwhelming his cock was like an iron rod, pre-come trickling from the tip. It had not taken long before Ianto had come hard shooting his come between them. Jack had followed almost concurrently shooting molten fire into Ianto's body. Shifting his stance slightly, Ianto could still feel Jack's come deep inside him; his reflection smiled back at him.

Two strong arms sliding around his waist and a warm body being pressed close against him from behind jerked Ianto from his reminiscence and back to the present; in the glass Ianto watched as Jack kissed the nape of his neck.

'Missed you' he breathed softly into Ianto's ear, 'what's happening?'

Ianto leaned back into his lover's embrace, the warmth of Jacks body making him realise how long he had been standing naked, lost in his thoughts. 'I was just thinking about last night,' he said

Jacks hand slid over Ianto's belly and closed around his semi-erect cock, 'looks like they were good thoughts,' he murmured suggestively as he rubbed his own erection against Ianto.

'The best'

'Come back to bed, show me all about them.'

Ianto laughed and turned away from the window, why would he watch the image when he had the real thing in his arms?

* * *

><p>The next morning Jack seemed uncharacteristically silent, he pushed his breakfast around his plate, taking only small bites rather than inhaling it in his usual fashion. Ianto sat opposite him and watch worriedly.<p>

'Everything alright, Jack?'

'Hmm?' said Jack abstractly

'I said, is everything alright?' said Ianto patiently.

'Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking about last night.' said Jack a small frown on his face

A cold fear suddenly gripped Ianto's heart making it stutter in his chest, 'last night? Why? Was...was...it not good? Was I not good?'

'What?' for the first time Jack seemed to notice Ianto's fear. He jumped to his feet and pulled Ianto into a tight embrace. 'No, no. You were wonderful, amazing. We were brilliant together.'

Ianto was confused, 'then what?'

Jack buried his face in Ianto's hair, 'you were so brave when that shit stain broke in to our home. You stood up to him, you saved me.' Ianto tightened his hold on Jack, he wasn't sure were this was going but he wanted Jack to know that Ianto would always hold him safe in his arms. Jack continued, 'it was my fault that you had to do all those things, my job that put you in danger. You are a book seller, Yan, you shouldn't have to face up to knife wielding low lifes or crazed killers of any sort.'

'So, what are you saying, Jack? You can't wrap me in cotton wool, you know. I'd rather face danger and have you in my life than be safe without you. I love you'

'I know' said Jack, 'I love you too. I have an idea. Make us some fresh coffee and I'll tell you what's in my mind.'

* * *

><p>Tosh and Owen were becoming used to being the first people in the Hub these days since Jack seemed to be finding it harder and harder to leave Ianto; so they were surprised to see Jack making his way to the boardroom carrying a bag of pastries, from Jackson's no less, with Ianto Jones walking beside him carrying a tray of coffees.<p>

'IANTO!' shrieked Tosh making Owen jump; he had no idea that such a petite woman could produce such volume.

Ianto turned to face them and the look of joy on his face was enough to tell them everything they needed to know. Jack had a similar look and his face and that gave Tosh and Owen the courage for what they had planned to do.

'Hi lovebirds' cried Jack, 'just in time, team meeting in the boardroom.'

Owen and Tosh hurried up to join Jack and Ianto at the large mahogany table. 'I can't believe he bought you into the Hub. And you are walking, what happened?' she whispered as she seated herself next to Ianto. Ianto smiled enigmatically.

'OK' said Jack, 'firstly, a welcome to Mr Jones who's help in ending the sex slave ring in Cardiff has entitled him to full disclosure of the work we do here. I have a couple of items for today's discussion, including an update on Ianto's amazing recovery, but before we get on to them, Owen, Tosh, do you have anything for the agenda?'

Tosh and Owen exchanged glances and then Owen rested their joined hands on the table top and cleared his throat, 'we do,' he said, 'erm...as you guys know, Tosh and I have been seeing each other for...well as long you two have, actually, and last night I asked Tosh to marry me.'

'And I said yes' added Tosh.

'Wow' said Jack, 'that is so brilliant! Congratulations, you two.'

Ianto hugged Tosh tightly and then shook hands with Owen, 'congratulations' he said, then he turned to Jack, 'does this make things easier or harder for us?'

'Both I think' replied Jack, then seeing the looks of confusion on the faces of his colleagues he related the events of the previous night from the moment Pearson had burst into their home to the moment Ianto had taken him out with a bust of Trollope.'

'Blimey' interjected Owen, 'I'd like to give you a full physical after this, if that's OK with you Ianto' Ianto nodded as Jack ended his story of Pearson's capture with an account of his incarceration by UNIT.

'The thing is,' continued Jack, 'the events of last night made something crystal clear to me, I cannot expose Yan to such danger and, if I continue as leader of Torchwood, I cannot guarantee his safety. I talked things over with Ianto this morning and as soon as I have negotiated and worked my resignation period from Torchwood, he and I will be getting married.'

Tosh and Owen exchanged glances, obviously having one of those silent conversations that couples do so well. They nodded at each other and then Tosh spoke up, 'we don't want to stay here if you are not Director. If you are tendering your resignation to Her Majesty you had better notify her that her people will need to provide replacements for us also.'

* * *

><p>Owen had dragged Ianto down to the med bay for his physical and Jack was leaning on the railing of the landing outside of his office surveying the Hub. Tosh came up beside him and slid her hand through his arm.<p>

'Everything OK, Jack?'

'Yeah' Tosh had never heard Jack so contented.

'And Ianto?'

Jack chuckled, 'takes everything in his stride. Aliens in Cardiff? No worries. Rift in space and time under the plas? That's OK. Immortal lover? Not a problem. The only thing that I have seen agitate him is if I try to use his coffee machine.'

'Wow' Tosh was impressed, 'you really went for full disclosure, didn't you?'

'I want this to work' said Jack sombrely, 'that means no lies, no deceit.'

Tosh nodded, 'I get that,' she said. There was a small pause as she and Jack shared a reminiscent and understanding smile, then Tosh continued, 'so what are you planning to do with yourself?'

'I want to take Yan on holiday, I've accrued quite a lot of money over the years and I think it's time to start spending it; there is so much I want to show him on this planet and others. I've already talked to The Doctor he's agreed that we can travel with him for a while. Then...I guess...I'm going to be a bookseller.'

'I think you will be a brilliant one,' said Tosh, loyally

'I will if Ianto is beside me' said Jack

Tosh looked at Jack, 'but something is bothering you' she asked shrewdly

Jack sighed, 'everything is perfect, Toshiko. I love Yan so much, I can't wait for our life together to begin and I could not be happier for you and Owen but...it just feels...'

'Like the end of an era.' said Tosh softly.

'Like the end of an era' agreed Jack.

**Epilogue– 14 months later**

On a warm mid-summer's eve, the sounds of a big band floated through the grounds of Cardiff Castle which had been closed for a private party by order of the Queen. Lights twinkled around the walls of the ancient monument and the soft chatter of guests could be heard as they wandered around the ground sipping the best champagne. It had taken much longer than they had anticipated for Jack to disentangle himself from Torchwood; UNIT had placed so many conditions on his resignation that eventually Jack had called in The Doctor in desperation. Even now he was taking no chances and in one shadowy corner of the castle wall a blue police box stuck an incongruous note to the festivities.

Tosh and Owen were dancing slowly on the grass; after considerable negotiation, both had agreed to stay affiliated to Torchwood as consultants. Owen was now their Chief Xenobiologist and Tosh was tasked with leading a team that evaluated any alien tech and worked on a universal translation project. They worked 9 to 3 most days, had weekends off and rarely went out into the field. Tosh had removed her shoes and was resting her head on her husband's shoulder. Owen kissed her hair gently and adjusted his hold on her waist. Tosh was only four days from her due date and, to Owen had never looked more beautiful, no matter how much she complained about feeling like she was the size of a whale. Jack and Ianto had agreed to be godfather sand had already spent the previous nine months spoiling Tosh as much as she would let them; practising, Ianto had said, for when their goddaughter was born.

'Are you asleep?' murmured Owen, 'are you flagging? It has been a long day

'Not asleep yet' hummed Tosh, sleepily 'but might be soon. This is nice though. Let's do this for a bit longer.' and she settled once more onto Owens shoulder

'Hey' Owen turned them gently, 'look at that'

'That's beautiful' said Tosh softly as she saw what Owen was looking at

The newlyweds, Jack and Ianto were standing alone, wrapped tightly in each other's arms swaying gently to the music. The two men moved in perfect harmony and their love for each other was painfully obvious and, even without the matching rings they both wore, it was clear they belonged to each other and no-one else. Jack whispered something to Ianto and Ianto responded with an incandescent smile and an emphatic nod. Unnoticed by their guests with the exception Tosh and Owen, the two men walked slowly, and hand in hand, towards the castle exit and on to the rest of their lives.

~~ Gorffenedig ~~


End file.
